The New Republic Daily
Report
05/26/11
Barack Obama is a Politician, Not an Intellectual—and That’s How it Should be David Greenberg
Barack Obama, though he is evidently thoughtful and
intellectually capable, is not usually considered a man of ideas. In contrast to
a policy wonk such as Bill Clinton or an ideological standard-bearer such as
Ronald Reagan, Obama has never even brandished a distinct political philosophy.
He sought the White House not so much on a platform as on a sensibility—a spirit
of change, a promise of redemption, a song of hope.
That sensibility was largely responsible for the almost otherworldly appeal that Obama exhibited, in the eyes of countless devotees, during the campaign in 2008. As much as any group, intellectuals rallied to Obama’s candidacy with a zeal not seen in presidential campaigns since an earlier generation of students, horn-rimmed and tweed-coated, cheered the parlor poet Eugene McCarthy, or even the noble and quixotic sallying of Adlai Stevenson, with his famous varsity wit. The creative class’ romance with Obama even recalled Irving Howe’s explanation of Stevenson’s allure: the so-called eggheads of the 1950s, he wrote in “Stevenson and the Intellectuals,” were “tempted to abandon politics entirely yet felt themselves forced—indeed, trapped—into a lukewarm, gingerly participation. … And here was this remarkable man from Illinois, so charming and cultivated … come to represent and speak for them. Roosevelt might be admired for things he had done, Stevenson was to be admired and identified with simply because of what he was.” So the roles of the politician and the intellectual had been conflated, or perhaps confused.
Continue reading "Barack Obama is a Politician, Not an Intellectual—and That’s How it Should be"
How To Bungle One of the Government’s Cushiest Jobs Tiffany Stanley
Sorry, Republicans: Medicaid Is More Popular Than You Think Jonathan Cohn
05/26/11
Barack Obama is a Politician, Not an Intellectual—and That’s How it Should be David Greenberg
Barack Obama, though he is evidently thoughtful and
intellectually capable, is not usually considered a man of ideas. In contrast to
a policy wonk such as Bill Clinton or an ideological standard-bearer such as
Ronald Reagan, Obama has never even brandished a distinct political philosophy.
He sought the White House not so much on a platform as on a sensibility—a spirit
of change, a promise of redemption, a song of hope.That sensibility was largely responsible for the almost otherworldly appeal that Obama exhibited, in the eyes of countless devotees, during the campaign in 2008. As much as any group, intellectuals rallied to Obama’s candidacy with a zeal not seen in presidential campaigns since an earlier generation of students, horn-rimmed and tweed-coated, cheered the parlor poet Eugene McCarthy, or even the noble and quixotic sallying of Adlai Stevenson, with his famous varsity wit. The creative class’ romance with Obama even recalled Irving Howe’s explanation of Stevenson’s allure: the so-called eggheads of the 1950s, he wrote in “Stevenson and the Intellectuals,” were “tempted to abandon politics entirely yet felt themselves forced—indeed, trapped—into a lukewarm, gingerly participation. … And here was this remarkable man from Illinois, so charming and cultivated … come to represent and speak for them. Roosevelt might be admired for things he had done, Stevenson was to be admired and identified with simply because of what he was.” So the roles of the politician and the intellectual had been conflated, or perhaps confused.
Continue reading "Barack Obama is a Politician, Not an Intellectual—and That’s How it Should be"
How To Bungle One of the Government’s Cushiest Jobs Tiffany Stanley
Sorry, Republicans: Medicaid Is More Popular Than You Think Jonathan Cohn
