I get mocked for this -- fairly, given how on-the-nose it is for my demographic -- but Obama remains the only national politician I would genuinely want to hang out with, just to talk. nytimes.com/2021/06/01/opi…
I think what I like about Obama is precisely what fueled cons' hatred of him: there's a sense of remove, like there's a person in there, Barack, somewhat amusedly observing all the pomp & ridiculousness of politics around him. He can comment on it from an ironic distance.
Intellectually, it's a virtue (IMO). A person like that has convictions but never completely identifies his self with them -- holds them separate, as defeasible, contingent, & open to revision. Ideologues & fundamentalists recognize that, even if only subconsciously, as a threat.
Most people w/ that temperament end up as observers (many many journalists & pundits fit the bill). What always seemed somewhat superhuman to me about O was that he could comment from that remove, evince that ironic distance, but then also participate fully in the thing itself.
That's what I could never do: see politics for what it is, as contingent, shaped by chance & circumstance, full of absurdities, ultimately *silly* on some level ... but then also participate in it, commit to the silliness, in a way that's completely earnest (& successful!).
AOC has some of this quality too -- you can tell there's still a real person in there, separate from all the nonsense & able to view it from a remove, but also able to fully commit & participate. It feels a bit like a magic trick to me. I hope she's able to hang onto that.
Maybe worth adding that, as in so many respects, Trump is Obama's polar opposite on this, utterly unable to establish *any* distance or distinguish a persistent self from the tides & whims of other people's opinions. Part of why the fundies all love him.
Obama talks about distinguishing between his "prophetic voice" & his "political voice" -- consciously choosing which to use based on circumstances. Can you imagine Trump having the wherewithal or discipline to choose his tone & words consciously?
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