That day, Obama emphasized that he’d bring good judgment to the table and avoid miscues like Bush’s invasion of Iraq. He framed a vision of an America of equal opportunity and upward mobility, respected for its values and ideals, not just its military might.
He made decisions, he said, after surrounding himself with bright minds on all sides of an issue and hearing them all before taking action.
Reading back over my notes from that interview, I’m struck both by all he got done and by how much we took for granted in those days about how a White House culture should be. On health care, for example, Obama spoke of the need for reforms in which “insurers and drug companies should have a seat at the table but not be able to buy a chair.”
This week, Obama leaves office, eight years older and grayer, his idealism no doubt tempered by the harsher realities of politics. He hadn’t anticipated how vigorously Congressional Republicans would resist him, even openly wishing for him to fail. He didn’t predict how his name and race would be used to undermine him. But whatever his miscalculations, Obama never lost his oratory and ability to inspire, his diplomatic skills or his abiding belief in the power of people to drive needed change.
The question now is, for all the intemperate pronouncements, what will we get in a President Trump? How does a people-powered presidency give way to a go-it-alone one, in which no one else is trusted but family, who are elevated to top positions of power. Russian infiltration in elections is tolerated, even invited, and every slight provokes a showdown on Twitter. How much do we really know about his personality? Does he have a sense of humor? Does he show affection to his children and grandchildren? Is he capable of laughing at himself? Who or what inspires him beyond his business dealings? What does he struggle with internally? All I know is that in my 25 years of meeting candidates for the Register, I have never felt I knew less about an incoming president. That has been deliberate on Trump’s part, by categorically shutting the press out.
The pessimist in me says this bodes badly for what’s to come. The optimist says he can only surprise us for the better. The activist says it’s really not about him; it’s about us as citizens demanding the government we deserve.
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