Quick Morning After Thoughts On Obama's Speech
1 - These thing are always a Rorschach test, but in our household Obama was king of the world last night. In fact, my wife Jody (as usual) had the best quick take when he was done. "After he does eight years as president," she said, "he'll clearly go on to be president of the world." She meant that since we'll increasingly be looking for new forms of global governance to deal with all the important stuff that can only be dealt with across borders, Obama will create or lead whatever premiere institution has emerged or is being set up in this regard. Yes, I know, we've got a recession to conquer and health care, energy and education to fix first. Still, sounds like a plan!
2 - During the always amusing cutaway shots I couldn't help noticing the wistful looks on many of the presidential wannabes in the audience, all of whose faces had the same sentiment grudgingly etched in italics: "I really wanted this, but this guy's got the goods in ways I never will." On my list that captured John Kerry, Evan Bayh, John McCain and Jay Rockefeller. Maybe I missed some.
3 - Can't wait to see what Obama said was the $2 trillion in budget savings over ten years they've already identified when the budget outline gets unveiled Thursday. Team Obama is laying the groundwork for the kind of budget honesty we haven't seen since -- well, since Clinton, in whose OMB I proudly served. If the $2 trillion over ten is real stuff (and not magic asterisky) it will be fabulous. Fingers crossed.
4 - Wonder if anyone else was as struck as I was by Obama's message to kids about not dropping out of high school. If you drop out, he said, "you're not just quitting on yourself -- you're quitting on your country." Why hasn't a president put it that way before? Another great example of Obama's instinct for using the bully pulpit to make a difference. Look for that quote to be up on placards in high poverty schools across America soon. Hope they develop a more detailed "hang in there" You Tube message from Obama that schools and other caring adults can show to every kid who's at risk of dropping out.
"grudgingly etched in italics"
Mot juste.
February 25, 2009 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
We're gonna hear more of this. Don't want to pay taxes? You're quitting on your country! Want to deny healthcare to fellow citizens? You're quitting on your country. Etc.
Everything is part of "service to your country."
The new patriotism!
February 25, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
2 - Chris Dodd. In one of his close ups, he appeared close to tears.
Dennis Kuchenich. He stood in line the longest to get a chance to talk to Obama as he exited the hall signing autographs of the program. He looked like a kid behind a dugout hoping for a glimpse of Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth.
Interestingly (to me at least), his rivals now on his team, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, didn't appear wistful at all.
February 25, 2009 1:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
1 - Runaway enthusiasm is scary, I hope it's not contagious. Responsible enthusiasm is great.
3 - My inner cynic says that saving $2T over 10 years is not great if the baseline is a loss of $10T over 10 years - $2T then is hardly significant. Let's find a way to significantly cut long term government spending without killing essential services.
February 25, 2009 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
...or find a way to increase taxes to pay for the many, many long-delayed investments we have to make to keep America a first-class place to live.
The top marginal tax rate during Ike's presidency was between 91.5 and 94 percent, and there were more brackets. Seems like the right mix; Ike was paying for World War II, and we need to pay for the low-tax, economic-royalist-friendly binge-for-the-rich of the last 28 years.
February 25, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not against Obama's campaign tax ideas.
But in general I'm concerned about taxation without sound planning. Talk like "I will cut the deficit in half (after I double it)" doesn't instill confidence in me that Obama government is "smart". That makes me doubt his integrity, a little since he claimed to be the man for smart government.
February 25, 2009 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
You forgot presidential wannabe Joe Lieberman, who looked like he was sucking on a shit-flavored Jolly Ranger whenever the camera caught him.
February 25, 2009 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
A global government is the last thing the world needs. There is already too much power in the hands of too few bankers/executives, they created this crisis, and they would ultimately control and abuse the power of a world government.
People in power abuse their power, and having competing governments and financial interests helps keep things in check. We need even more competition, and more checks on the interlocking cartel that has been pushing for global government for years.
They want Obama to be their front man too.
February 25, 2009 8:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I felt electrified by Obama's "if you drop out, you're not just quitting on yourself -- you're quitting on your country" comment. I don't think a President has talked like that since JFK.
February 26, 2009 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink