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LIVING POLITICS
Howard Fineman
Obama, The Unifier
Like Reagan, the 44th president has the potential to be a truly transformational figure.
Jan 19, 2009
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Here's news: this weekend I heard Rahm Emanuel, the new White House chief of staff, publicly--even proudly—call himself a "liberal." It was yet another indication that Barack Obama represents a tidal change in American politics.
In place of a generation's worth of individualistic thinking, Obama brings a renewed commitment to another facet of our history: our belief in the ideal of unity, common purpose and community.
Yes we were pioneers, heading ever west with little more than an axe, a rifle and a bible. But we could not have survived in the virgin woods or on the unplowed prairies without each other.
Everybody in the capital is comparing Obama to Abraham Lincoln. But the more recent—and illuminating—comparison is Ronald Reagan. In 1981, Reagan came to town vowing a massive shift in philosophical thinking. "Government isn't the solution," he declared. "Government is the problem." Individual striving was the answer.
It was a message that resonated deeply at a time when voters felt they had lost touch with some fundamental American values; that government had grown too large, corrupt and incompetent; that taxes and bureaucracy were crushing creative freedom. They saw Reagan as the iconic Western cowboy, who meant what he said (even if he was a movie actor). And majorities of voters remained loyal to him, ignoring criticism from the national media.
A genial man, Reagan reached out privately to his political adversaries as he arrived in town. Even before his inauguration, he held a dinner at the old F Street Club for the city's reigning (and about to be deposed) Democratic establishment. He did not win them over, but he sent out a signal that he respected their history.
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