Jodi Kantor’s piece on the president probably is not intended to be helpful, but since her audience is the New York Times’ readership, I don’t think it will do any harm. If the worst you can say about the president is that he is absolutely self-confident and driven to succeed in every area of his life, I don’t think too many of our intellectual elites are going to be turned off by a bit of arrogance. And who besides our intellectual elites read the New York Times?
The same piece by the Associated Press might do some damage.
I did like this bit:
This February, in an otherwise placid meeting with Democratic governors — routine policy questions, routine presidential replies — Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana asked Mr. Obama if he had what it took to win the 2012 race.
For a moment Mr. Obama looked annoyed, a White House aide said, as if he thought Mr. Schweitzer was underestimating him. Then he came alive. “Holy mackerel, he lit up,” Mr. Schweitzer said in an interview. “It was like a light switch coming on.”
No matter what moves Mr. Romney made, the president said, he and his team were going to cut him off and block him at every turn. “We’re the Miami Heat, and he’s Jeremy Lin,” Mr. Obama said, according to the aide.
Knicks fans will know what I mean when I say that Mitt Romney is more Ernie Grunfeld than Jeremy Lin.
I cannot anybody having the drive and self-confidence to become POTUS without also having a fair – OK, enormous – amount of arrogance. So why is that a bad thing?
Or is it just a bad thing because black men aren’t supposed to be arrog – er. uppi- er, well, you know…
You don’t get to be POTUS without “the fire in the blood”. I don’t think Al Gore had it. But, by definition, Obama had it. Gov.Schweitzer’s question was really, “Do you still have it?” We can answer that question when the week is out.
I generally don’t like hyperaggressive, hyperambitious types, but Obama doesn’t come through that way to me. Of course he’s driven — every good politician is, which might be an unfortunate flaw in the system, but it’s what we’ve got. I wouldn’t want to nominate anybody who didn’t want to win.
I saw most of his Labor Day speech in Toledo today. The comparison between him and RyanRomney is nothing short of stunning. He’s likable, he communicates, he makes a damn good show, at least, of understanding the world most of us live in. He’s a good pol, but I don’t think he’s good enough to be faking this out of nothing. He brings excitement with him even when the content inspires some questions — something RyanRomney will never be able to do.
I sense some humility in the mix as well. An important quality at times, IMHO.
Yes. Another positive quality in Obama is that he doesn’t mind being challenged. It seems to me that he wants to be challenged. That’s a huge contrast to Romney and other authoritarians.
The ancient Greeks had a term: Hubris. I’m not really sure you are seeing humility so much as a recognition that hubris is damaging and you can’t believe your own press and survive.
Just because you believe you ARE the smartest guy in the room, doesn’t mean you HAVE to be an arrogant asshole about it.
Of course you have to be extremely driven if you want to be the POTUS, not just to win the job, but to be able to get out of bed every day and face the grind. Rumor has it that Bush’s team kept him tranqued up most of the time for that purpose; I doubt Obama needs any such assistance.
Maybe what some will find jarring in this description is how well President Obama hides aggression. He doesn’t come across as a scrapper most of the time.
Never much of a fan of Jodi Kantor since she came with that book on the Obama marriage which was a thinly veiled hit-piece on Michelle O, IMHO (and catch Jodi all on MSM when they need someone to psycho-babble Michelle Obama)
Anyway, of course the POTUS wants to win. Who the heck runs for the “highest office in the land” if they don’t want to win (other than the money-grubbers like Herman Cain and Newt G).
Anyhoo, OT, but check out this video, and see why the campaigns the GOP hate on Obama, he’s just too damn cool for the haters…lol!
Watch the 2012 Democratic National Convention Live on BarackObama.com Hosted by Kal Penn
Only Obama could be comfortable enough in his own skin to do something like this. Now we just need to get those youths to the polls and OfA are on it!
Dunno whether the Times is paying by the word or by the pound these days, but that article went on and on without adding any actual facts.
I recently read something in The Atlantic by Fallows that did the same. Have all the editors been fired?
ms. kantor has apparently mistaken ambition for arrogance and intellect for entitlement…qualities that herr romney and ryan display on frequent, if not daily, occasions.
having attended obamas appearance here yesterday, all l can say is that her perceptions are decidedly incorrect. he is a very personable and talented politician. yes, he’s confident, would anyone prefer it to be otherwise?
seems to me this is closer to the truth than even the author intended:
“in contrast to the ratpublican alternative” ms. kantor…get it?
if not, perhaps you should get out of your bubble a bit more often.
And seemingly also the reverse. She mistakes arrogance for ambition and entitlement for intellect. That log in her own eye must make it very hard to see the mote in Obama’s.
OT, but that Ryan thread has been overrun by the troll. Booman u were so right, all this dude does is lie. Has Paul Ryan ever met an exaggeration or half truth that he wouldn’t traffic in? Seriously callin ghim “Lyin Ryan” is too nice.
https://twitter.com/AntDeRosa/statuses/242730125660131328
Oh, there you go again. That’s “just a link”. And at that link is an assertion of what Ryan said. Not an actual recording of him saying it. But of course, a recording could always be doctored. And the link does not show a video of him saying it. But videos can also be doctored, can’t they? And you were not there to hear him actually say it. But you are a “Prog”, so even if you were there, what you hear is going to be biased by your prog-iness. So the only way that something which Ryan says could actually be a lie, is if Ryan himself calls it a lie.
You progs, you’re such sheeple.
LOL!
Baaaaaa!
Note that, once again, an MSM article can’t bring itself to use the word “lie.” Instead, Ryan “appears to have mistaken” the correct number by a factor of about, um, 67. Well, we all make mistakes…
Ok, so has anyone noticed Mitt’s gait? I’ve been researching Altzheimer’s for a friend and one of the tells is a stilted, shortened gait. Just sayin.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, ten percent of people aged 65-74 have Alzheimer’s, but in that age bracket it is often not diagnosed. But I don’t think Rmney has Alzheimer’s, he is just a liar and a vacillator.
I have to say ever since Bill Frist and Terri Schiavo, I have been extremely reluctant to even hint at diagnosing someone from afar. There are enough bad marks against Romney. No need to speculate about any others.
I’m not big on speculating about anyone’s health (including Mitt Romney’s) health, especially based on one factor. (A stilted, shortened gait is also common among people with back problems, or unsteadiness due to a minor neurological/balance problem, or…well, you get the point.)
However, if you want a “canary in the coal mine” among journalists covering the campaign on the “does Romney have Alzheimer’s” question, then I’d recommend following Charlie Pierce at Esquire. He knows Alzheimer’s inside-out (wrote a terrific book titled “Hard To Forget” about it), and would likely be at the front of the pack if there’s a story there at all.
Obama Leads in Michigan
if this continues, what does it mean when Romney is losing in all his “home states”, MI, NH, MA?
Nothing. Michigan was never in play, despite all of the horse-race journos trying to make it so.
His home state is wherever his money is stashed.
Patria ubicumque bene erit — his homeland is wherever he can turn a profit.
Such have been with us for a long, long time.
And he shorted Michigan.
The Caymans?
You forgot California. Unless they’ve moved out because of all that dreadful pot smoking on the beach.
Utah. I’m pretty sure he’s winning in Utah.
Good to know that Michigan voters are not “michigue” (if you get my French) for Romney.
Obama Still Leads in Colorado
I’ve got no problem with the thrust of President Obama’s remarks, but that one comment was extremely unfair to Jeremy Lin.
Yeah, I thought the same. I didn’t like the optics of that comment either.
I’m not talking optics, and I’m not even being all that serious here. Just noting that unlike Romney, Lin is actually good at what he does, and if his team weren’t as coordinated and comfortable with each other as the Heat were (and they weren’t), that certainly wasn’t his fault.
I’m a Knicks fan, and I don’t know what you mean.
The Dave Checketts-Pat Riley-Ernie Grunfeld front office soap operas of the 90s eventually led to the decline of the team, but when Ernie Grunfeld helped run the show, the Knicks were super-competitive, and it was really fun to be a fan.
I believe he’s talking about Grunfeld’s playing days.
Did you ever watch Ernie play?
Ah okay – looked up his stats – I get it now!
I didn’t realize Grunwald actually played for the Knicks – I thought the comment was a shot at Mitt’s record as a manager, and that there was some bit of Knicks history regarding Grunwald somehow selling out the organization or fans during his front-office term.
Relieved to hear that this is not the case. Ernie’s still cool in my book.
I’m confused. Wouldn’t Knicks fans say Romney is more James Dolan than Jeremy Lin?
Find the guy with the lowest field goal average and the highest turnover/assist ratio.
Or, the biggest bricklayer.
I was struck by the contrast of Grunfeld being the 11th overall pick vs. his career 7.4 PPG.