NY Times: Obama "Surrounding Himself With Pragmatists Rather Than Ideologues"

President-elect Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination with the enthusiastic support of the left wing of his party, fueled by his vehement opposition to the decision to invade Iraq and by one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate.

Now, his reported selections for two of the major positions in his cabinet -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state and Timothy F. Geithner as secretary of the Treasury -- suggest that Mr. Obama is planning to govern from the center-right of his party, surrounding himself with pragmatists rather than ideologues.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Helzapoppin]

"pragmatic" is just a pretentious term that means "I don't really believe in anything other than my own self-aggrandizement."

[Nonamnesiac]

Obama has selected a wholly ideological group of neo-liberals as his economic and international team, with some serious genuflection to the neo-Cons who are AIPAC controlled. He has selected basically the same group of anti-regulation, pro-unbridled free market, pro-privatization economists whose predecessors caused the current calamity and put the State Department and the White House under people who voted for and defend the war crime we call the invasion and occupation of Iraq (Hillary and Rahm).

Obama is wholly ideological. And he knows it, which is why he has appointed a liaison to those who actually got him the nomination, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. He has morphed into Bill Clinton, W and Alan Greenspan (before Greenspan saw the light and admitted everything he said and did for the past 2 decades was poor economics.) The change Obama promised has happened. Obama has changed into those from whom he said he'd save us. He's just another group-think guy who's thinking with the wrong group.

[Jazzcomedian]

President-elect Obama knows that once the euphoria, and his uniqueness as the first African-American president wear off, he's going to be judged solely on his agenda, and it's results or lack of. A historical legacy only as a racial pioneer will be hollow. He and us need results.

To me change is:

1. An intelligent, humanistic president genuinely concerned about the working and middle class.

2. A president who respects our intelligence, promises transparency in government , and declares that he wants to reestablish the trust between the president and the public that has been lost--and we bbelieve him..

3. An thoughtful, compassionate constitutional scholar who can actually understand the opinions he reads before he names justices to the Supreme Court.

4. A president who closes Guantanamo, and stops torture to restore our moral standing in the world.

5. An president who hires strong intellects and personalities in his search for the best solutions to America's problems, and puts excellence, and competence above ideology when choosing his team to move his agenda.

6. A president who ignores media pundits, reporters, and political columnists and sticks to his conviction to practice a more substantive, ethical politics and raise the level of public debate.

7. A president who realizes that the war to focus on is in Afghanistan.

8. A president who outmaneuvers and whips the stingy, intolerant, Rovian GOP conservatives a$$ without breaking a sweat.

I'm not greedy. That's plenty of change I can believe in.

[jetgirl]

It's probably for the best. Most progressives can't see the forest for the trees and I am one.

[XME]

You bet. That's one thing I've liked about Obama since I first started learning about him. He's always looking at the bigger picture. Always looking ahead, not just the task directly in front of him.

[Jazzcomedian]

"Because of my politeness, people underestimate my willingness to mix it up"

---------Barack Obama

I'm left of center, lived in Australia, a Democratic Socialist country for seven years, and experienced the manifest benefits, and greater humanity extended to it's working class citizens. In my opinion we could learn a lot from them about how to have a more civil society, and treat with respect working and middle class people. However I am not an idealogue by any stretch of the imagination. Politics is the art of the possible, and ideological purity often gets in the way. Idealistic pragmatism is what is needed in our White House.

When Obama went back on his campaign finance pledge he signaled that he not only want to win, but he wanted to give the GOP the severe beating they deserved for their malfeasance, and set them back for years. So he took the political hit. He is not playing, and knows that the GOP conservatives, and their selfish idealogy are not going quietly into the night. He's not only smarter than them, but his appointments show he's getting ready to let them know that he is also tougher than them, and serious about delivering on his agenda. It's easier to espouse a legislative agenda than to make it reality, and Obama means business. He wants results. The GOP is not only going to be outsmarted, but outfought if necessary. This is going to be fun.

[citadelgrrl05]

i totally agree!!! if peole just stop nagging and give the man a chance they may get a peak into what he is doing read his booka yall, you might get a clue!!!!

[strifeknot]

It's funny how gutless center-rightists, neoliberals, and Clint0nistas consider their recalcitrant, obstinate obstructions to real change to be pragmatic.

Carrying on with the failed Reagan/Bush/Clint0n policies that got us into this mess, as BHO seems determined to do, isn't what this country needs. We need BIG change, not the "pragmatic" status quo.

[Helzapoppin]

A-Effing-Men!

[MrPragmatic]

MrPragmatic approves.

[hudsuckerproxy]

We've had eight disastrous years of neo-con ideologues running amok. The fact that Obama, like FDR before him, is a pragmatist is deeply reassuring in this time of economic crisis. January 20 can't come soon enough.

[anghiari]

Oh grow up won't you all!...we have dumped the blue and red states....this left bull is also making me crazy...ever govern before? Life is not a bunch of labels nor is governing...You keep sucking the air out the possibility that the leader can ignore all the labels that have gotten us totally estranged from one another ...perhaps he is simply going after excellence of the highest order. People who have a rigorous intellect to bring to problems and the solving of them for the future...takes people who are looking toward the future...Obama is gathering talent, high talent, tough talent, real talent and then he and they will talk about the future of this country....the media is back to unbridled speculation and their nattering drives me up the wall. Thank God we have a real brain in the White House who has four years to not give a good damn the Halperin, Tapper, Stephanopoulos aren't pleased with his choices and his progress. As for Marc Halperin, if the media did side with Obama in the end, did you notice the crowds dancing with Palin? Did you happen to hear what they were saying? Nobody with a brain wanted that woman elected and rightly so...

[citadelgrrl05]

TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!! KUDOS KUDOS KUDOS I JUST PRAY THE PREIDENT OBAMA IS SUCCESSFUL, B/C THAT IS WHAT WE NEED RIGHT NOW!!

[Grulg]

And to top it all off, The Case in Point---now say it with me folks--you know you can, and you know you wanna: Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Makes ya feel good, doesn't it???????

[tidalChange]

Is it just me or are there a lot of people sleeping BETTER than they have in 8 friggin years? Knowing PresO is getting things straightened out and going to go in to lead the country out of the crap-pile it's in makes me so grateful and comfortable (to say the least... after 8 years of utter bu++ clenching insanity).

It's like when you were 5 years old and lying down, falling asleep in the back seat of your parents' car (before the carseat laws) on your way home from a long trip, eager to get home but knowing it's all going to be just fine...and home will feel like heaven.

[Changeling]

Why is this a problem?

Idealougues look for solutions that toe their party line. The fact that it fits the party narrative being more important than whether or not it actually works.

Pragmatists look for solutions. Period.

If the idea is sound I doubt Obama cares if it comes from Pelosi or Palin.

Which is EXACTLY the type of guy you want there in the first place.

[redsongia]

We are not a center right or center left nation. We are a squarely pragmatic nation.

[FebM]

Perfectly said, and Obama is looking for solutions, innovations and inventions period. Let the linguistics and historians do the classification

[canucklivinginUSA]

Yes we are. And both sides of the spectrum better recognize it and stop spouting the center-left, center-right meme.

[kcgeezer]

Amen! I am sick to death of this center-right BS. Pragmatists are moderates. Period. There are no pragmatists on the fringes.

[Hawka]

Universal Health Care, Investment in Infrastructure, Closing Gitmo and banning torture, protecting the environment, and creating clean energy and tackling Global Warming etc. is center right now? I remember a time not 10 years ago that these were 'liberal' notions, my how the times manage to realign themselves. Regardless I'm glad Obama won't bog himself down in fanciful ideas when what we need is pragmatic thinking and action to obtain desired results.

[Paladin2]

Can't you wait until he has actually done something before you start your Obama chant? He hasn't done any of those things yet and judging by his choices so far never will.

[PhilipTaylor]

This concept is simply WRONG!
This is a CRISIS and Obama has to have a team of experienced professionals who know how to get ahead of this before it further damages AMERICA and the world!

I still see the Middle Class as the central Focus and we will not see a Wall Street Centered Administration, so "TRICKLE DOWN" is gone and Bottom Up is here.
The Best way to handle Wall Street is to REGULATE it to restore Confidence. Throwing money at Wall Street has not worked as they have used much of it to pay bonuses and dividends!
Helping people remain in their homes, regaining jobs, healthcare reform and coverage, exiting Iraq, and Green Energy are still his primary goals.

[strifeknot]

Please, he's surrounding himself with the people who got us INTO this mess. We need true progressives to bring about change and set this country right, not all these spineless centrists and neoliberal Clint0nistas who won't do a damn thing except preserve the status quo.