Bob Herbert calls Obama "The Chess Master"

[RamboLiberal]

It was just a week ago that the bad-mouthing of Barack Obama seemed to be reaching a fever pitch.

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On Monday, he was on the road, making the case for his stimulus bill in Elkhart, Ind., which is enduring Depression-levels of joblessness and is desperate for federal assistance. Speaking to a crowded town-hall-style meeting, Mr. Obama said: “Endless delay or paralysis in Washington in the face of this crisis will only bring deepening disaster. I can tell you that doing nothing is not an option.”

The crowd cheered and supported him enthusiastically throughout his appearance.

There is always a tendency to underestimate Barack Obama. We are inclined in the news media to hyperventilate over every political or policy setback, no matter how silly or insignificant, while Mr. Obama has shown again and again that he takes a longer view.

There was no way, for example, that the Daschle flap was going to derail the forward march of a man who had survived the Rev. Jeremiah Wright fiasco. It’s early, but there are signs that Mr. Obama may be the kind of president who is incomprehensible to the cynics among us — one who is responsible and mature, who is concerned not just with the short-term political realities but also the long-term policy implications.

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Mr. Obama is like a championship chess player, always several moves ahead of friend and foe alike. He’s smart, deft, elegant and subtle. While Lindsey Graham was behaving like a 6-year-old on the Senate floor and Pete Sessions was studying passages in his Taliban handbook, Mr. Obama and his aides were assessing what’s achievable in terms of stimulus legislation and how best to get there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/opinion/10herbert.html

[FrenchieCat]

1. More.....and yes...."There is always a tendency to underestimate Barack Obama."

as the author notes.....from all sides, including President Obama's own side; Democrats.

The president was taking heat for the tax problems of Tom Daschle, Timothy Geithner and other appointees and nominees. Liberal supporters of the president were upset that he was making such a high-profile effort to get Republicans to climb aboard his stimulus package bandwagon.

Self-styled middle-of-the-roaders were snarling that Mr. Obama was not doing enough bipartisan outreach, even as Republicans on Capitol Hill were attacking his economic package with the kind of venom usually reserved for the handiwork of Satan.

Mr. Obama was called a hypocrite, dismissed as both craven and politically naïve and taken to task for being too much in the public eye.

The president was even accused — oh, my goodness — of working in the Oval Office without his suit jacket on. And what was Mr. Obama doing as this chaos and tension and criticism swirled about him? Not surprisingly, keeping a level head.

[Clio the Leo]

2. That he is.....

... and he's playing with one of those cool chess sets designed by Karim Rashid...


The man does not breathe without thinking about the impact it might have and from the moment he was declared the winner on election night, he has been formulating a plan to win the next one. That's not a slam ..... one of his campaign memes for 2012 will be "I'm cleaning up the mess left to me."

We need to all chill out ..... he's got this. ;)

[Solomon]

10. Oh my that is a cool chess set!

[firedupdem]

3. Thank You Bob Herbert for telling it like it is. n/t

[w4rma]

4. Yup. Correct. (nt)

[SoDesuKa]

5. Like a Chess Player

Obama is taking advantage of the low hurdle by which presidential success has been measured since George Bush. People don't expect the occupant of the Oval Office to be smart, well-informed, and wily. Although this ought to be a minimal expectation of the President, people are surprised when it actually occurs.

Republicans are going to take their lumps until they decide on some other strategy. Chess players study each other's past performances for clues to likely behavior. Obama has clearly done his homework, and the Republicans are amazed at how easily they are being defeated. He has laid a number of traps for them, and they've fallen right into them.

Why did Obama choose Elkhart, Indiana to promote the recovery plan? To make Republicans sound insensitive and uncaring to other Republicans. You can call it a master stroke, but it's not. It's merely competent play, and Republicans are unused to it. They will smarten up because they don't have a choice. Either they re-learn how to do politics, or they'll end up so irrelevant they'll disappear. They're already on the verge of extinction.

[Number23]

6. "Mr. Obama may be the kind of president who is incomprehensible to the cynics among us"

He keeps proving it time and time and time again. Maybe at some point the "cynics" will come to understand that. :)

[bridgit]

7. That's nothing, Willy Brown all but called him the most intelligent man on earth!

:wow: Still great to see a president able to stand there making sense moment after moment even better he's ours :kick:

[Hellataz]

8. I wish more people got this point, especially ones who are in his base.

From the OP:
"There is always a tendency to underestimate Barack Obama. We are inclined in the news media to hyperventilate over every political or policy setback, no matter how silly or insignificant, while Mr. Obama has shown again and again that he takes a longer view."

This is so true is scary. Time and time again I watch people negatively post, report, or complain about every little thing he does, despite his limited time in office and the fact that he always ends up explaining away their concerns by helping them understand that just because he didn't take the more straight forward approach to solving their issues, didn't mean that his ultimately goal wasn't to fix it.

He's a long term thinker, he's a strategist. Even some of the media were catching on today that not only was he reaching out to the american people, he was also targeting his speech to the members of the obstructive GOP, AND he made calculated moves to plant sound bites that could be used in future elections to help his party remain in power, but emphasizing those who are trying to stand in the way of this stimulus package.

Hell, I bet if someone had thrown him 3 balls and a kazoo, he would have done all that while juggling and playing the star spangle banner. He's the ultimate multi tasker and he careful constructs his every move to ensure he gets the most bang for his buck.

I just wish that after a while more and more people start to realize this and stop jumping to the wrong conclusions every time Obama doesn't fix a problem in the time they liked or the way THEY wanted him to. Because the point is that in the end, The problems will have been fixed.

[Kahuna]

11. DING DING DING DING DING! People don't get that Obama is growing the party..

He has a helluva job in front of him because Democrats for all their talents are really unorganized thinkers. We are blessed to have Obama as our leader. Why do they think Obama went to IN yesterday? Could it be to possibly turn IN blue and pick up some seats in 2010? Duh. Same with FL today. We could use those extra seats in 2010. If the repukes had any sense they would be shaking in their boots.

[pansypoo53219]

9. poker

he called the republikkkans bluff, holding a full house to their pairs.

[BeyondGeography]

12. People still admire grown-up behavior, especially when they're down, and he knows it

When things get better, they can go back to being entertained by theatrics. Now is his time.

[olegramps]

13. He has maneuvered them into the position of being anti-working class.

Their position can now be exploited especially if the plan which they opposed reverses the path of destruction that the Republican have put us on.

I believe that it should be hammered home day after day that it was the Republicans with their tax breaks for the wealthy, huge deficits, illegal war and thoughtless deregulation to appease their greedy pals that is the sole cause of where we are today.

I can't help to believe that Gore should have never conceded to this rotten bunch. He should have continued to fight on as many in my family encouraged him to do. He thought it was the right thing to protect the Republic, but in retrospect it has proven to have been a disastrous decision for Americans. It really distress nearly to the point of despondency for me to think how much different things, not could have, but would have been if he had been president.

God help our children and grandchildren if this plan of recovery doesn't work.

[WinkyDink]

14. Well, Republicans have ALWAYS been anti-working class. Obama is opening the citizenry's eyes.

I agree about Gore. The alternative history: no invasion; no dead and maimed; heck, maybe not even a 9/11, because Gore would have followed up on that PDB.

It is almost maddening.

[jenmito]

15. My father, who IS a chess master, agrees. n/t

[uponit7771]

16. Tie Rush's mug to them then make them look anti-worker, they'll walk right into that

[AngryAmish]

17. This is the sort of independent, challenging press we need in this country

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

The thing about Democrats is we can always take criticism.