obama's Image Problem

newsweek has a good article on the candidate being trapped between demands to be the rock star and the policy wonk.
and amid people complaining of one or the other, he works to stay true to himself and stay authentic and not consultant driven.
though you cannot please everyone and someone is always cranky and never satisfied.
The article also knocks down the gop strawman of no substance or policy. and states his love of policy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18999830/site/newsweek/

une 11, 2007 issue - It was a low-key event for the rock star of American politics: a poorly lit seminar room at a community college in Mason City, Iowa, full of voters sharing their woes about the health-care system. Yet Barack Obama worked the policy forum with the energy of someone who was hearing stories about the burdens of chronic illness and costly premiums for the first time. "What those people said to me was so amazing," he told a senior aide as they walked out of the event in early April. "It was so interesting to hear how their perspectives were similar and different from the folks we saw in New Hampshire."

In his first TV debate, Obama seemed hesitant, uncomfortable with the time limits. ("These formats don't suit the style of a man who speaks in paragraphs," says a senior aide who, like other advisers and confidants NEWSWEEK interviewed, declined to be named talking about campaign strategy.) Though the ailment is easy to diagnose, the usual remedy—more stage-managing—can kill the candidate. John Kerry and Al Gore, the last two Democratic presidential nominees, bounced from one persona to the next as consultants tried to "correct" their personalities. Publicly, Obama hasn't shown signs of suffering from such whiplash, but the pressure to adapt will only mount.

Obama isn't blind to this. "First he's the rock star who needs to prove he's serious about policy—which is ironic because he loves policy," says a confidant. "Then he's too serious and needs to be glib on TV. It's tough for him, especially because he's so self-critical." Privately, the senator isn't shy about vocalizing his frustration if he thinks he has underperformed. Speaking to the Building and Construction Trades labor conference in late March, Obama tossed off a few lines about union issues before resorting to a tired stump speech that bored even him. Walking offstage, he told aides, "Man, I gave a bad speech." Some advisers worry that he risks being overmanaged. "Language is a tool for him, a strength," says Eric Holder Jr., a former deputy attorney general who has served as an outside adviser to Obama. "We got concerned about people trying to include things in his speeches that sounded canned and predictable—campaign platitudes that we've heard too much of in the past. We were worried that his authenticity wouldn't come through."

It's tough to stay true to yourself in politics...

Remember it when people here say the Democrats have no spine, or they have sold out. Remember the word COMPROMISE.

You'll be flamed, but oh well. It is true.

The article also knocks down the gop strawman of no substance or policy.

The people who brought us Little Boots are all of a sudden concerned with substance?? Too funny.

I've no doubt Obama could do circles around any Rethug any time.

Julie

which seems to be looking for a problem to exploit?? Took a dig at Kerry and Gore, this article represents...swift-boating-lite!!!

I guess the MSM word for this election is: authenticity, this writer and Bernstein are on a roll!
:eyes:

:rofl:

if IP will defend his/her "I got mine" approach to political slurs

:toast: MKJ

:kick:

Things that make you go hmmmm...:think: MKJ