The President is back!

whose office is this anyway?

Wasn't it great to see the President take charge of the press room yesterday, commanding and thoughtful, explaining clearly and precisely why he believes this tax plan - though flawed - offers the best economic stimulus and aid to the middle class and unemployed that we can hope for in the current economic and political climate?  Watching the President, it was clear he had given long and hard consideration to the many possible options and outcomes and truly believed that the current plan's benefits outweighed its flaws and was ultimately in the best interests of the country.  It was an appearance I found both informative and comforting.

No, I'm not talking about Barack Obama.  He left the press conference because he didn't want to keep his wife waiting at a Christmas reception.  He left the press conference to Bill Clinton.  Imagine Bill Clinton leaving a predecessor to speak for him in a time of national crisis.  Can't?  Me neither.

Am I misremembering here or wasn't part of Barack Obama's primary rhetoric about the importance of keeping the Clintons out of the White House? Think back - wasn't it something about hope, change, moving forward not backward?  But now, here we find him, a scant three years later, faced with a major insurrection within his own party, running for Clinton cover and out the press room door.

Aside from this rather astonishing hand off, the press conference provided from my point of view me a real understanding of why Clinton is so effective at communicating where Obama is not. When Bill Clinton speaks
you truly sense the hours he's spent studying a problem - you can imagine the spirited debate, stacks of informational materials, reviews of how other economies have handled, or not, a similar crisis.  You get the sense of the work involved in coming to the decision.  When Obama speaks I imagine a separate team quantifying data and reviewing polls and offering up safe, measured solutions that the President approves and then passes on to us, with the expectation that his considerable charm and obvious intelligence will convince us it's the way to.

What I don't get from Obama is the sense of a guy rolling up his sleeves and digging in.  In his many "legislative accomplishments" the hard work and heavy lifting have - from all appearances - been done by others, most notably Nancy Pelosi.  Think of all the stories staff and press told about Bill Clinton and his insatiable need for knowledge and debate - the staffers working til 3 am, the press who couldn't get a nap on the plane because Clinton wanted to play hearts and discuss the Sudan.  Or NAFTA.  Or history.  We never hear stories like this about the current commander in chief.

Now I  may be wrong.  Barack Obama may be the hardest working president we've ever had.  But I don't feel it from him and I don't see it.  I see a man giving speeches.  Making media appearances.  Spending far more time on the road than in the office. 

A lot of people  think that what Obama lacks is Bill Clinton's ability to feel our pain.   But maybe what he's really missing is Clinton's ability to make us feel his hard work and the time and thought that went into every decision - whether you think he's wrong or right - that he ever made for our country.