Barack Obama frequently positions himself as the Great Unifier; the one man who can forge a more perfect union by bringing us together. He talks a good game of pursuing bipartisanship, civility, and setting aside the divisive labels in Washington. But one week ago, Obama waffled on his own ability to be persuasive with House Republicans. Some background:
March 21, 2008
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, among others, picked up on the Obama-as-Unifier anthem, saying, “I believe [Obama] is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together . . . I know full well Senator Obama’s unique ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation.”
AND:
March 25, 2008
The New York Times quotes Barack Obama as saying, “we need a leader who can finally move beyond the divisive politics of Washington and bring Democrats, independents and Republicans together to get things done.” The implication, of course, is that he is such a leader.
THEN:
September 30, 2008
Regarding a historic vote on the pending economic crisis, John Berman, of ABC News, asked Barack Obama, “You're a very persuasive man. You have a certain amount of influence with your own party. Could you have done more — should you have done more — before the House vote yesterday to lobby for votes?”
OBAMA: “Oh, absolutely not. Uh, because if you think about it, there was a deal struck between, uhh, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and, uh, the Republican [Minority House] leader, [John] Boehner. Uh, the... Uh, the Democrats were supposed to get 120 votes. They got 140. So there was no sense on the Democratic side that we weren't following through on our commitments. Uh, and apparently there were some problems on that side. I don't think me calling House Republican members would have been that helpful. I tend not to be that persuasive on that side of the aisle."
It appears Barack Obama is waffling on his much touted ability to bring Democrats, independents and Republicans together. If he can't manage that now, how will a senator — who is politically and philosophically to the far left of Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, and Barbara Boxer — unite America, the world, not to mention the rest of the galaxy?
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