Can Obama Pull Off a Historic Presidential Double Play?

''On or about December 1910," Virginia Woolf wrote, "human character changed.'' We can be much more specific: "On November 4, 2008, just after 11 pm Eastern, America changed" (human character remains rather intransigent).

The change was driven by two things: our country's remarkable capacity for regeneration, and Barack Obama's remarkable ability to tap into the better angels of our nature.

You know something extraordinary is happening when even Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, and Joe Lieberman trip over themselves -- and their hastily discarded invective -- to say nice things about Obama and the "tremendous signal" sent by his election.

Sure, it's easy to see their encomiums as purely tactical attempts not to be on the wrong side of history, but they are more than that. They also demonstrate how certain moments and certain individuals are able to bring the best out in people -- even people who have shown us some of the worst aspects of human character. Because, hard though it may be to accept, the best and the worst reside in each of us, side-by-side.

As Alexander Solzhenitsyn put it: "The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart." And the greatest leaders are those who inspire us to reside on the good side of Solzhenitsyn's line.

Obama does more. As David Brooks wrote recently, Obama's fractured childhood "is supposed to produce a politician with gaping personal needs and hidden wounds. But over the past two years, Obama has never shown evidence of that."

Here is someone whose childhood could have easily led to a life in shambles. But Obama has somehow -- and without, as far as we know, thousands of hours of therapy --succeeded in not letting circumstances dictate his life and reactions.

During the campaign, Obama was an object lesson in equanimity. Insinuate he's Muslim or sympathizes with terrorists, and he brushes off the mud. Hammer him with trumped up charges -- "sexist," "socialist," un-American" -- and he rolls with the punches. He simply doesn't let it in. He demonstrates that we have the ability to master whether we allow setbacks and attacks to throw us off course.

A lot has been written about Obama's calm in the face of adversity over the course of the last 21 months. Less noted has been how he displays that same centeredness in the face of triumph.

On Tuesday night, he could have waxed transcendent, he could have wrung every last tear and every last cheer out of the adoring crowd at Grant Park. But he chose not to. Instead, his speech gracefully touched the clouds a few times then soberly came back to earth, focused, as always with Obama, on moving forward.

To their great credit, the American people have responded to Obama's example by remaining remarkably focused as well. Despite the seemingly endless parade of meaningless sideshows trotted out during both the primaries and the general campaign, the public refused to be distracted. These kinds of tactics had worked well in 2004 -- but not in 2008. Obama's focus, his sense of purpose cleared a path through the carnival of clownish attacks and chamber of horror scares. And voters followed.

After eight years in which it has felt like the very foundation of our country was under assault, it is a testament to our democracy's inherent capacity for regeneration -- our ability to course-correct -- that Americans responded the way they did to a campaign so premised on an appeal to our greater selves.

A country can change only to the extent that the individuals within it change (and some changes come slower than others, as evidenced by Prop 8 and the other gay marriage bans that passed on Tuesday).

So it's back to Solzhenitsyn: "If you wanted to change the world, who should you begin with: yourself or others?"

Our president-elect is obsessed with Lincoln, who changed the country both by changing government policy and by using the bully pulpit to help us change ourselves. And our president-elect is endlessly being compared to FDR, who gave us both the New Deal and one of the most famous life lessons in history: "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

Now it's Obama's turn to pull off this rare presidential double play.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[Scoppertop]

Topic request: US Auto Industry RE-TRAINING to make vehicles that run on electricity or solar.

Let's not see these good people lose their jobs when Americans have always been the tech forerunners.

Please also discuss the despicable practice of letting great PATENTS for new technology get buried by the oil companies, who will not be profiting from the upcoming green industry. There are already batteries that will allow electric cars to travel 1000 miles on one charge... if the oil companies will stop blocking their introduction to market.

[EMontagne]

Re: Topic for the RM show.

I strongly question the government's commitment to the separation of church and state and would like to hear this discussed some more.

As a non-Christian, what was made crystal clear to me this election is that a black man may be elected President of the US, but a non-Christian may not. This was manifested in the fact that the mere allegation that Obama may not be Christian was considered negative to his chances of being elected. Instead of "and so what if I'm not Christian" (as Colin Powell finally said to my relief), the response was no, he was indeed Christian. Also an allegation was made against Elizabeth Dole's running mate that she may not believe in God as a means to damage her chances for election. The response again was not, "and so what if I don't believe in God, what difference would it make", but "Yes, I do so believe in God. I am a Christian."

The fact that our candidates can state that their religious beliefs, and not rational thought, are driving their decisions about abortion, same-sex marriage is, I believe, a departure from the spirit of the separation of church and state.

I feel that there is no real consensus that many religions exist and should co-exist harmoniously. As their decisions can affect the population at large, shouldn't our elected officials be held accountable to using reason, rather than religion to make these decisions?

[BlueOnBlue]

Rachel Maddow Show guest: Arnold Schwarzenegger. You could discuss Prop 8.

I have to confess, what I'd like most about this would be the dueling accents.

[TomR]

Maddow guest suggestion:

Dr. Ravi Batra, Professor of Economics at Southern Methodist University and best selling author of a new book called "The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos"
http://www.ravibatra.com/

- Tom

[makesmecrazy]

I would love to hear from the great minds about the economy, not the same old-same old folks we hear way too much of. I have learned much from reading Joseph Stiglitz and agree with the suggestion of Ravi Batra.

Thanks for asking

[hxjp]

dear ms. a- RE: your guesting on rachel-
i'd also like to see basevich, on his book, the limits of power! also ask emma jordan coleman to flesh out her perturbing column on 14 nov. (good for the constitutionalists among us).
perhaps, the greek ambassador on his history-philosophy article. (i think it would be really good tv for students).
a moment with hillary would be both timely and heavenly- with vice president-elect biden, on foreign policy? SCORE! as would face time with anyone so far named into obama's team!
i know you like to do the republican party thingy, me, not so much. it's not news, just tv junk. maybe a bit of graham greene is appropriate here-
against the beautiful and the clever and the successful, one can wage a pitiless war, but not against the unattractive.
maybe if you must go there, do it with christopher buckley.
what i like about your style- you have the same quality of stubborn 'stick-to-it-iveness' that dae jang geum had in the 16th century korean royal court.
maybe for your cultural moment, you could interview tony gatlif on his latest idea is for cinema- i haven't heard anything from the titan since exils, 2004. the dancing and music were ethereal in vengo, 2000, and gadjo dilo '97, too. his perspective on race is astounding, but his take on music and dance captures the very essence of humanity.
rock on ms. a-
peace out, your acolyte, jp

[grammy70]

rm topic...President Bush's expansion of domestic spying before he leaves office.....?Difficult for Obama to cancel when he becomes President?....? "60 day rule"?(Drudge )

[craig77]

Hi Arianna- In all the discussion about this economic Crisis, no one has addressed How We Got Here. The discussion has been about solutions, which is good. But I wonder why this problem wasn't addressed before it got to the Crisis stage. The problem was not an earthquake, it built up over time. Who knew about this a year ago? Two years ago? Six months ago-why didn't the feds or wall street people do anything about it?

I don't know the details of How a mortgage backed security vehicle is traded-- let's hear from Economic Experts on How we got here and How do we get out of this mess. Are there different ideas about causes and solutions? What are they?

I'm in the middle of reading Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine." It is scarier than any Halloween movie, because its real. She has a lucid grasp on how economic crisis were created over and over in other countries. And this book was published in 2007--before this current Crisis! I am so afraid she has foreshadowed this mess, but it has taken on a global scale. Her premise is that the Crisis has been executed intentionally. What would have happened if Bush had successfully privatized social security? I think she would be a smart intelligent provocative guest--just like you.

[lieslgee]

The people in power, including corporations, are looting the US treasury because they are about to be out of power. Why are we giving billions of dollars with no strings. BAnks should be required to lend the money like they were supposed to do. If a corporation gets funding, they should have to present a plan showing how they are going to get themselves back in balance -- down to no Cokes in the break room. No salary over $500,000 for any CEO until they have paid back everything and are in the black.

Why aren't we doing this?

[Antigone]

Alexander Hamilton has influenced Obama as much as anyone. It seems that this man is the one who Obama as a constitutional scholar is channeling. People do not realize that the constitution protects us from the government...and this came from Hamilton, a child born out of wedlock. It is my hope that someone like Arianna who has the megaphone points this out to our ignorant masses. Since day one there has been those who believe in the constitution and the power elite that want to banish it....like Bush and Cheney. This has been a problem since the beginning of our country. This article is great Arianna....keep up the education of the masses....we need it right now....channel a bit of Hamilton to the less informed. Thanks

[moeursalen]

A topic for the RM show? Most of the country opposes a Big Three Auto Bailout. How do Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Harry Reid get public support without appearing to engage in a direct payback of the UAW and other unions which heavily supported Obama?

[SanDiegoDem]

Suggestion for your appearance on Rachel Maddow -

It's Still the Economy - The Economic Summit will be concluded by Monday. The US press will posture the outcome on What George Bush says. I am interested on how other countries view the results, who were the leaders with the most influence? Will there be more transparency in global capital markets? Will hedge funds be regulated and supervised? What does Paul Krugman have to say about it? Will they restore some confidence to global financial markets to attract future investment? How does the $850B ($700B for Paulson + $150B to get the congress to sign onto the bill. Most commentators leave the later part out.) bailout project help support the outcome? What are China, Germany and France doing to "bailout" their troubles compared to US efforts? Do we need job stimulus in the US (Auto industry bailout) or more money for Wall Street executives to keep their valuable talent on the job? How will an Obama administration change the course we are on? (Obama had Madeline Albreit and Sen. Leach (R) observing. They might be great guests to comment.

[LiteSleeper]

Hi Arianna,

Please talk about what Obama should do in terms of stimulus and the most crucial strategic policies he should put in place while he has this historic opportunity to do so. Paul Krugman wrote a great article today about why Obama needs to be bold in his stimulus, on the order of $600 billion, if he wants to be able to have a successful presidency. I just think its important for Obama to not listen to the same advice given to Clinton when he became president which was "aim low" and be incremental.

You can read it here if you haven't already: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/opinion/14krugman.html?em.

[rnelsonbrown]

I know i am too late for you and Rachel Arriana, but what about Cuba? Is it too early for the USA to be turning its head in that direction? In this climate of global warming, global economic crisis, and shrinking resources, where sustainable solutions are to become the mantra of any politician who wants to stay in power, how can the US, and the rest of the world learn from this tiny country which developed a sustainable and viable microcosm in the face of extreme prejudice and punative economic sanction? Talk about yer silver lining.
Cudos by the way. Very impressed with the insightful site. It's such a pleasure to have a place to go for meaningful and informed discourse. There can be no doubt that the Right is indeed wrong, and that a progressive platform is the only way to go at this juncture. Multilateral cooperation, community action, and individual responsibility will be the catchwords in the days to come.

[donbrown]

Aloha, Arianna...

One of the things that has made Barack Obama the man he is, comfortable in his skin and able to deal with people as PEOPLE, not as labels is his upbringing in Hawaii— a multicultural society that is as close to color-blind as America gets.

As an African American living in Honolulu, I can attest this is true,,,and something the rest of the country should want to emulate. Obama is a living, breathing example.

Perhaps you could interview his sister Maya, who is half Indonesian and her husband Konrad, a Chinese Canadian...lovely people.

[dr56]

The "Get Back To Basics" mantra intoxicating Republican circles can be summed up in the following critique by Senator Jim Demint (R): "McCain, who is proponent of campaign finance reform that weakened party organizations and basically put George Soros in the driver's seat," DeMint said. "His proposal for amnesty for illegals. His support of global warming, cap-and-trade programs that will put another burden on our economy. And of course, his embrace of the bailout right before the election was probably the nail in our coffin this last election. And he has been an opponent of drilling in ANWR, at a time when energy is so important. It really didn't fit the label, but he was our package."

I would argue (as does David Brooks) that such romantic allusions to a mystical past (Reagan) is folly, that it won't address practical problems, and will keep Democrats in power. Interview Christopher Buckley--to tease out what he means by "the party left me."