So I was watching Meet The Press yesterday and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) was on. I have to say I was pretty impressed with him and what he had to say. I think I might check out his new book The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. From this interview it seems he has changed his mind about what he said 9 months ago regarding running for President or VP in 2008 - now, as he said on Sunday, it is fair to say he is thinking about running.
I really liked several of his comments but these about Bush and the current administration running on ideology versus the facts really stuck with me. From the transcript of Sunday's show:
MR. RUSSERT: You talk about visiting the White House and how the president was very gracious meeting members of the Congress and made a presentation, and then in the middle of the presentation, this is how you write about it, “The President’s eyes became fixed; his voice took on the agitated, rapid tone of someone neither accustomed to nor welcoming interruption; his easy affability was replaced by an almost messianic certainty.”
SEN. OBAMA: Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: “Messianic certainty.” Those are strong words.
SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, I, I think the president is, is a complicated person. As I say in the book, I think he is a decent person, and, and the—I like him personally. I think that the president has come to approach the problems we face in very ideological, absolutist terms, and I think that’s, to a large degree, characterized how the Republicans who’ve been controlling Congress have operated over the last several years. And I think that has been a mistake. I think that the American people are historically a nonideological people. I think when we operate on the basis of common sense and pragmatism, we end up with better outcomes. And I think that part of the reason the Republican Party is going to—has been doing poorly in this election is because people have said, you know, when we look at issues like health care or education or Social Security or foreign policy, it seems as if the president has only one narrow approach and is not taking in the advice and dissenting views that might make for better proposals. And, and that is something that, you know, I think anybody who’s in power for a while can fall victim to; I think this administration has been particularly victimized by that problem.
MR. RUSSERT: But when you say “messianic certainty”...
SEN. OBAMA: Yeah.
MR. RUSSERT: ...you’re suggesting that it’s almost as if he believes God wills it.
SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, I, I don’t presume to know what is in the president’s heart. I think that one of the president’s strengths from a political perspective is that certainty. I think that the problem has been that that certainty has precluded him from looking at issues based on facts as opposed to based on ideology. And I, you know, I quote in the book one of my favorite stories from the Senate when Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York is in an argument with a colleague on the floor, and the colleague’s probably not doing too well in that argument, Pat Moynihan was a pretty smart guy, and at some point, the other senator gets frustrated and says, “Well, you know what, Pat? You’re just entitled to your own opinion and I’m entitled to mine.” And, and Moynihan frostily, I—I’m sure, says, “You are entitled to your opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.” And I think this administration has, has not always understood that distinction. And that’s part of the reason why we’ve had problems in Iraq and that’s part of the reason why we’ve had problems with our, with our budget. There’s been an unwillingness to look squarely at the facts in making decisions.
“You are entitled to your opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.” I love that line.
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