The main takeaway from Ryan Lizza's 15,000 word opus on Obama's rise in Chicago is that Obama was an intensely cynical, ambitious, politician who proved more than willing to bruise and brawl his way to political power. More than amassing a record as a continual reformer or organizer or uniter, he showed himself to be a relentless comer, clear-eyed about the role of institutions in political power and willing to work with them in order in order to further his goals and career. Frankly, I find that comforting, but your mileage may vary. The other theme of the piece is Obama's tremendous, almost preternatural self-confidence. Remember the old line "just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you?" Well, just because you're arrogant, doesn't mean you're overestimating your abilities. Obama's the sort of guy who can pack stadiums with 30,000 otherwise busy people who will sacrifice their day just to hear him speak. He's the sort of guy who, all through his life, has left people shaking their heads and murmuring about the first black president. One response to this sort of adulation would be to shy away from it, take refuge in self-deprecation and faux-humility. Another would be to embrace it, to study the effect you had on others and try to understand how to best leverage it. Obama has taken the second path, which meant, on some level, internalizing a pretty rare level of public adulation. It's left him unnaturally self-possessed and almost unsettlingly confident, but it's not yet been proven wrong.Image used under a Creative Commons license from BohPhoto. THE OBAMA OF CHICAGO.
The main takeaway from Ryan Lizza's 15,000 word opus on Obama's rise in Chicago is that Obama was an intensely cynical, ambitious, politician who proved more than willing to bruise and brawl his way to political power. More than amassing a record as a continual reformer or organizer or uniter, he showed himself to be a relentless comer, clear-eyed about the role of institutions in political power and willing to work with them in order in order to further his goals and career. Frankly, I find that comforting, but your mileage may vary. The other theme of the piece is Obama's tremendous, almost preternatural self-confidence. Remember the old line "just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you?" Well, just because you're arrogant, doesn't mean you're overestimating your abilities. Obama's the sort of guy who can pack stadiums with 30,000 otherwise busy people who will sacrifice their day just to hear him speak. He's the sort of guy who, all through his life, has left people shaking their heads and murmuring about the first black president. One response to this sort of adulation would be to shy away from it, take refuge in self-deprecation and faux-humility. Another would be to embrace it, to study the effect you had on others and try to understand how to best leverage it. Obama has taken the second path, which meant, on some level, internalizing a pretty rare level of public adulation. It's left him unnaturally self-possessed and almost unsettlingly confident, but it's not yet been proven wrong.Image used under a Creative Commons license from BohPhoto. 
