Posted by
Brian Norton on Friday, December 12, 2008 1:03:30 AM
I have read quite a bit on both sides of the argument about how Obama is going to govern, and I am not totally convinced even he knows. From the time he sprang onto the national stage two years ago, he has been the epitome of pragmatism. Nothing has been too large, or sacred, to "throw under the bus" if it seemed to imperil his chances to gain the Presidency. Does that mean he has no guiding star other than power, or that he is truly an astute politician, one of the most stellar practitioners of rhetorical chicanery in modern history? By the way, I do not mean the forgoing in a positive light. Obama is not a typical liberal, in that he is not wedded to any one tenet of the liberal cause, except abortion, and even then there was no real challenge to call him on it(the partial birth fiasco ran more on whether he lied, not the substance of what he was espousing). Faced with an enraged electorate, I think he would have thrown his opposition to the "born-alive" bill under the bus too. So what does this have the do with
Charles' column? Just that Obama has dreams, but when they meet reality, as his "withdraw from Iraq immediately!" met the NSA daily briefings, the dreams change to pragmatism. His vision of America is probably not that shared by most Townhall readers, but his ability to effectively Change what he Hoped to...? Pragmatically, it's not gonna happen.