Charles Blow has a piece up now on The New York Times website that bemoaning the fact that Obama isn't showing enough "emotion" concerning the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf.
Thursday, in the opening remarks of his press conference, the president said: "Every day I see this leak continue I am angry and frustrated."
I wasn’t feeling it.
Mr. Blow is entitled to his opinion. But let's look back at the 2008 campaign and even more recently. One of the traits that impressed A LOT of people back then was Obama's unflappability.
September 25th 2008 - NPR
Barack Obama's temperament is famously unflappable. He has reacted with characteristic cool and caution to the Wall Street financial crisis, holding back at times while his rival charged ahead.
His campaign mantra is "No Drama Obama."
Top Obama strategist, David Axelrod, described a staff meeting after the campaign's crushing loss in the Ohio and Texas primaries:
"As he walked out the door, he turned around and said, 'You know, I'm not yelling at anybody here,'" Axelrod remembers. "'I could,' he said, 'after spending $20 million and losing two primaries.' He said, 'But I'm not.' And he laughed and walked out the door."
October 17, 2008 - NYT
Some have disparaged Mr. Obama as too cool, but his unflappability over the past few weeks -- indeed, over two years of campaigning -- strikes us as exactly what Americans might want in their president at a time of great uncertainty.
October 9, 2008 - Bloomberg
As the 2008 campaign closes and the U.S. finds itself battered by an economic storm, Obama's unflappable demeanor has a new name. It's called a presidential temperament.
It's come in handy during the financial crisis, particularly when John McCain ``suspended'' his campaign, jeopardizing their first debate, saying he didn't want to phone in his advice. Then he spent the weekend at his Arlington, Virginia, headquarters phoning members of Congress.
Obama quietly huddled with former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He refused to cancel the debate on a Friday night, with markets and Congress closed. McCain showed up.
`That One'
That same temperament prevailed again at this week's debate. Obama was steady, and McCain tried to be. He talked less about being a ``maverick'' (condolences to those at home playing the drinking game) in favor of being ``a cool hand on the tiller'' in rough seas.
January 10, 2008 - The Plum Line
Please tell me whether you agree or disagree that Barack Obama has the personality and leadership qualities a President should have.
Agree 64%
Disagree 35%
I’m not sure how you square that with the frequent claim by pundits that Obama is too "cool" or "detatched," or that he’s not engaging or taking charge, or that he’s not enough of a "daddy" or what have you.
Whatever problems the voters have with Obama’s policies, his temperament just doesn’t seem to an issue for them. They don’t seem to want him to flaunt his emotions more or throw his weight around more or treat voters like children. No matter how many times we’re told otherwise.
I'm sure we all remember McCain's "temperament" during the campaign. Picking Palin as a VP sure was reassuring. And wanting to suspend his campaign during the financial crisis was downright comforting. And let us not forget what 8 years of emotional outpuring of fake outrage gave us. Terry Schiavo, questioning of patriotism, Iraq, etc.
I don't know about you, but I didn't elect a someone that would wear his emotions on his sleeves. I didn't elect a "daddy". I wanted a person who was extraordinarily intelligent and one who would actually stop to think about an issue or crisis without knee jerk reactions that almost always end up in disaster. (see above paragraph)
The irreplacable John Cole over at Balloon Juice sums up nicely what the press expects out of president.
In some cultures, there need to be ritual displays of over the top emotion for some events- profuse groveling including getting down on your hands and knees when making an apology, wailing and beating of the chest and throwing yourself on the coffin at a funeral, and so on. Apparently, this is what we expect out of our political leaders these days.
In order to demonstrate for Blow and the rest of our press that Obama is really quite upset, I’m suggesting that he hit the beach at the oil spill, dressed only in a loin cloth and cilice and discipline, where he can then self-flagellate repeatedly on the back until bloodied, at which time he can stage a self-crucifixion with his blood dripping onto the beach symbolizing the oil spill. That ought to show he cares.
You can argue all day long about Obama's handling of the BP Oil Spill, but his lack of overt anger is just not a sticking point with me. I want a resolution, not a rant from the Obama. For me, at least, outward displays of emotion feel false and manipulative coming from him. It's just not in is nature. He's been President for 18 months and the press should know this by now.
And, oh yeah, we've got a fucking bipolar press.