Conservative writer Bill Kristol is focusing on the future of the G.O.P. in today's NY Times, a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately. For me, it's probably a defense mechanism...I figure I can ignore the first couple years of the Obama White House by focusing on the next Presidential campaign, which should be starting in a couple years or less. It won't be easy to defeat Obama in 2012; clearly, he could play the "I'm cleaning up the mess left by the last administration" for two terms.
Nonetheless, some interesting writing from Kristol:
Those were my thoughts when, a few minutes into his victory speech, just after midnight, Obama told his daughters, “And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the new White House.”
I gulped.
Not out of my deep affection for dogs, fond of them though I am. But because while we’ve all known that Obama is a very skillful politician, he hasn’t until now been a particularly empathetic one. Competence plus warmth is a pretty potent combination. Suddenly visions of the two great modern realigning presidents — Franklin Roosevelt (with his Scottish terrier Fala) and Ronald Reagan (with his Cavalier King Charles spaniel Rex) — flashed before my eyes. Maybe a realignment could be coming.
Obama was, naturally, asked about the promised-but-not-yet-purchased puppy at his press conference Friday. (If one were being churlish, one might say that it was typical of a liberal to promise the dog before delivering it. A results-oriented conservative would simply have shown up with the puppy without the advance hype.)
Obama commented wryly that the canine question had “generated more interest on our Web site than just about anything.” He continued:
“We have two criteria that have to be reconciled. One is that Malia is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic. There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic. On the other hand, our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but, obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me. So — so whether we’re going to be able to balance those two things, I think, is a pressing issue on the Obama household.”
Here, in a few sentences, Obama did the following: He deepened his bond with every dog lover in America. He identified with every household that’s tried to figure out what kind of dog to get. He touched every parent with a kid allergic to pets. He showed compassion by preferring a dog from a shelter. And he demonstrated a dry and slightly politically incorrect wit by commenting that “a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me.”
Not bad. It could be a tough four or eight years for conservatives.
Kristol throws in a few names at the end of the piece that should be coming up a lot over the next couple years: Governors Sarah Palin (Alaska), Bobby Jindal (Louisiana), and Mitch Daniels (Indiana). All are being discussed as potential G.O.P. leaders of the present and future. Palin...well, first she has to get rid of the residue of this campaign, and get backstabbers from the McCain camp to shut up. She may want to take that Alaska Senate seat once Ted Stevens is kicked out of office. Jindal's got the Obama pedigree: Diverse (Indian-American), smart (Brown, Oxford educated), and young (born in 1971). Heck, he's even got the young kids and the skinny frame like Barack. Daniels was just reelected in Indiana with over 60% of the vote; impressive considering many who voted for Obama as President voted for the GOP's Daniels as their governor.
We know this...a new face is needed on the national stage in revitalize the party and steer it into a new direction. Governors also have the advantage of actually governing, compared to their Republican comrades in the House and Senate.
Sunday's POST also caught my eye as well. I've been ignoring most of the Obama lovefest, but an article in Sunday's Outlook section focusing on what Obama's election means for Black Americans was worth reading. For one, it validated some of the things I've already said on this blog.
For example:
Obama isn't like the leaders who have traditionally spoken for black America. As president, he's unlikely to embrace the confrontational identity politics that have defined black activism for so long. He won't tolerate an African American brand of racism or a culture of violence. Nor is he likely to be patient with the long-standing narrative of victimhood that has defined black America to itself and to the mainstream for more than a century.
Obama is already constructing a new black political and cultural narrative -- gathering together the best of the past, including the coalition politics that characterized the early civil rights movement and an image of strong black males that doesn't involve bling-bling or hip-hop misogyny. He has decried the low-hanging pants fashion so popular with young black men, blasted rapper Ludacris for offensive song lyrics and called on fathers to take responsibility for their families.
Are African Americans ready to accept all this and respond positively? Are they ready for a truly post-racial America?
and...
But even if Obama reaches the Clinton bar -- appointing a significant number of blacks, increasing black employment and generally improving black prosperity -- it may not be enough. He may find himself in the same place as other black leaders of his class. Consider former Washington mayor Anthony A. Williams, who delivered services to low-income blacks far beyond what his predecessors had provided: a record number of affordable housing units, new supermarkets and retail shopping areas and health insurance for thousands. Yet he was nearly castrated by a segment of the black community. At one point, he was accused of trying to further enslave African Americans because he wanted to move the city's only public university to a predominantly black neighborhood. His governing approach didn't comport with that of "traditional black leaders" of the 1960s and '70s.
Obama, too, "will have his detractors," says Democratic pollster Ronald Lester. "A lot of those people will never be happy."
But "we cannot move back into the black power movement," adds Miller. "Obama represents a transformation of the American landscape."
And that's the point. If African Americans want to be taken seriously, they have to get with the program. Obama's election isn't just about a black president. It's about a new America. The days of confrontational identity politics have come to an end. The era of coalition politics and collaboration has arrived. Besides, Obama could never be a Rev. Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton -- something even they acknowledge.
"He ran the last leg of a 60-year tag race," Jackson told me. "The wall is down now. Barack must build the bridge for the next generation."
Meanwhile, many are buoyed by the possibility that he will change black America's view of itself. Stephens hopes that his example will restore the "criterion of excellence in education" that her parents' generation embraced. "We need to change the thinking of some kids that the only way they can make it is by singing, dancing and shooting hoops," she says.
Adds Minott: "It's about time we have a different meaning of what it means to be a black man and a black father."
Strong words. Let's hope Obama is a different type of African-American leader compared to the "don't forgot the past" fear tactics of Jackson and Sharpton. Yet, new ideas don't often work and don't often receive support from within the black community...the Anthony Williams example above is a perfect example. How Obama connects to the black population who helped put him office will be very interesting over the next four years.
