During last Sunday's taped Meet The Press on NBC, Tom Brokaw read excerpts from a David Brooks NY Times column critical of guest Barack Obama's speech in Berlin. Brokaw did Obama a favor. After all, Brooks is the leading conservative on the nation's most influential op-ed page, and quoting him allowed Obama to give a solid rebuttal, which he did... except for one thing.
He began his answer by saying, with a grin, that "there were about nine good reviews for every bad one." Ouch.
I always cringe when someone (athlete, rock star, politician) publicly shows familiarity with their press clippings (and the percentages, no less). A good rule for office seekers is to never "talk process" on the record (polling, fundraising). The press always tries, and it only makes the candidate seem calculating. Equally important, never hint that you read your own media reviews. Stay on the meat of your policy and vision, and sell only that. It'll sell you.
Obama's comment to Brokaw was easily dismissed as a cute aberration. Yet later the same day, at the UNITY '08 conference in Chicago, he joked that the reason his trip abroad is being hammered by Republicans is because it was such a huge success (again, he meant from the standpoint of positive media coverage). This got admiring applause from the audience. He then noted that if it had not been a success he'd have been hammered for that reason. Another round of applause.
What he said was surely true, and his manner was light and deft, but there was a valedictory tone to it. "I'd like to thank the Academy..."
Then came Monday. At a Virginia fundraiser he told supporters that "We are now in the position where the odds of us winning are very good." The word "difficult" (as in 'what this race might be') was half-heartedly added as an afterthought.
On Tuesday he met with House Democrats at the Capitol, and Dana Milbank wrote in the Washington Post that he reportedly told them, "This is the moment... that the world is waiting for," and "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions."
Others have written that the part of the quote Milbank excluded, where Obama said it's "not about me at all," decisively removes any hint of "arrogance" from the rest of what he said. Gee, if that's all it takes to pull in the independents and undecideds in this election, let's go out for cocktails and blow off the hunt for 270 electoral votes.
There's more. Some thought the minor dustup in June over the podium with his own fake presidential seal attached (using Latin words for "Change We Can Believe In") was much ado about nothing. Maybe not. His team ditched it after one appearance, and we know why.
It's way too early for victory laps, or even the perception of them. After all, we're going to have a fight on our hands, and it's just beginning.
I watched with dread as the late Texas Governor Ann Richards danced through her '94 re-election bid. Oh, she did it "backwards and in high heels," but she was in smug mode and it concerned some of us.
At the time, I imagined her awakening every morning in the Governor's Mansion, looking in the mirror, and telling herself, "Hell, the Hollywood Women's Political Caucus loves me, I wowed the whole country as the keynoter at the '88 Democratic National Convention, I'm the absolute bee's knees."
Richards treated the candidacy of the shallow upstart George W. Bush as a mere speed bump. She clung to a lead in the polls throughout election season, then lost at the finish, later admitting she'd underestimated the opposition. That's euphemistic for "I thought I had it won." A pity, because her defeat gave W a direct path to the White House.
I'm on board the Obama train, and I've got the bumper sticker -- er, car magnet -- to show for it. Yes, I'm well aware this is still summer, but Obama consistently fails to break free in polling despite the pathetic Republican brand and the (so far) shaky John McCain operation. There are several reasons the race is tight; no more are needed as we fast approach the fall campaign.
This isn't a question of self-confidence. Obama's got plenty of that key leadership trait. It isn't about issues. The public is fed up with the war and the economy. Nor is the concern having enough money to counter scurrilous TV attacks by Republicans. The Democrats are loaded this year.
Humility also counts, however. Indeed, the written prayer Obama left at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem last week begged God, in part, to "help me guard against pride..." So the senator knows this is really a question of how others innately see us. Human nature and life experience tells me that voters who are kicking the tires don't appreciate a candidate acting like victory is a fait accompli.
Right now, the candidate who fits that description is my candidate. It has me worried. Then again, that is my natural condition.