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How Would Cool Hand Obama Govern?

Brooks asks: How would someone so calm actually govern?

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 17, 2008 7:08 AM CDT

(Newser) – Barack Obama, like LBJ and Bill Clinton, may rise from an outsider's position to the highest echelon of American politics. But while those presidents sought power for respect or public adoration, writes David Brooks, Obama exudes an "untroubled self-confidence" in the mold of FDR and Ronald Reagan. Watching Obama's cool-as-a-cucumber campaign, the New York Times columnist wonders how his equanimity would serve him in the White House.

This year Obama has garnered "nearly unparalleled public worship," but while a Clinton would gorge on it, the candidate has become even more sober. In the Oval Office, he could be a disciplined, subtle leader of a diverse, respectful cabinet—or he could get "lost in his own nuance," more observer than decider. Either way, Brooks says, Obama has proved that "far from a celebrity fad, he is self-contained, self-controlled and maybe even a little dull."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is applauded as he speak during the Alfred E. Smith Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Rain begins to fall as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, speaks during an outdoor campaign stop at Mack's Apples in Londonderry, N.H., Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., center, addresses supporters at a community event in Londonderry, N.H., Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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At Obama rallies, the candidate is the wooed, not the wooer. He doesn’t seem to need the audience’s love. But they need his. The audiences hunger for his affection, while he is calm, appreciative,
and didactic. - David Brooks, New York Times columnist

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How Would Cool Hand Obama Govern?