Obama, The Unifier
Like Reagan, the 44th president has the potential to be a truly transformational figure.
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.
Obama did the same thing the other day, at a private dinner with conservatives.
As he wended his way here to Washington by train on Saturday, and in his speech Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial, Obama has repeatedly and eloquently called forth the theme of common purpose. And he has done it in the American grain, not by asserting the triumphs of the welfare state (such as it is), but by invoking images of good wars and epic crusades: the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Second World War, and the Civil Rights struggle. He is mixing the fife and drum with the "mystic chords of memory" and the music and passion of Martin Luther King Jr. All are about eras in which Americans finally, and not automatically, came together to achieve a common goal, overcoming boundaries of race and region.
Emanuel's declaration came at a concert sponsored by The New Republic magazine. Preceding music by Yo-Yo Ma at the Harman Center, Emanuel spoke along with Rep. Barney Frank and Larry Summers, who will be Obama's chief economic advisor. All three stressed the role of government in helping the country and the world out of the economic mess it finds itself in.
Marty Peretz of the New Republic summarized the liberal view of economic history: that scientific, humane thinking had rescued capitalism from its own excesses before World War I with Woodrow Wilson, and again in the 1930s with Franklin Roosevelt. Now, he said, it was time for a third wave and another rescue-by-government.
And that is the Obama surround. No, government isn't the only answer. And "government" and community isn't the same thing when Big Money owns the government. And Obama will make mistakes, and he will make compromises, and Democrats will be at each other's throats, and Republicans will grow recalcitrant, and the public will grow impatient—and there are a hundred other caveats I could mention.
But at least Obama is thinking big, as Reagan did. The new president (far more than either the Bushes or the Clintons) wants to represent and foster fundamental change in American history. If he is lucky, the voters will stick with him when the going gets rough. They stuck with the Gipper because he stood for something basic. Obama has no nickname, but he's aiming for a similar role.
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Howard Fineman is Newsweek's Senior Washington Correspondent and Columnist, senior editor and deputy Washington bureau chief. He is the author of "Living Politics," a column that began on MSNBC.COM and Newsweek.com and that now also appears in the print magazine. An award-winning reporter and writer, Fineman also is an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, appearing regularly on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and "TODAY." The author of scores of Newsweek cover stories, Fineman's work has appeared as well in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Republic. His 2008 national best-selling book, "The Thirteen American Arguments," was released in paperback by Random House in the spring of 2009.
One of the nation's leading political reporters, Fineman has interviewed every major presidential candidate from (then-vice president) George H.W. Bush in 1985 to (then senator) Barack Obama early and often in the 2008 campaign cycle. His current work focuses on the Obama Administration and its top officials, as well as on Congress and politics throughout the country. Although based in Washington, Fineman travels widely in the U.S. and has covered politics and other events in 49 of the 50 states.
Fineman's work has produced many milestones and awards. A cover story in November 2001 featured President George W. Bush's first extensive interview after 9/11. Another cover, "Bush and God," was part of a series of articles that won the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. His reporting has helped Newsweek win many honors from the Magazine Publishers Association and the American Journalism Review. Other awards include a "Page One" from the Headliners Club of New York, a "Silver Gavel" from the American Bar Association and a "Deadline Club" from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). In 2006 he received the Alumni Award from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
As a reporter and writer, Fineman ranges widely. Besides campaign-year covers, other projects have included: race and politics, the impact of digital technology on society, the influence of Hollywood on politics, the rise of the religious right and of conservative talk radio. He has interviewed business leaders such as George Soros, Bill Gates, Steve Case and Robert Rubin and entertainment figures such as Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda and Jay Leno.
Although now under exclusive television contract to NBC, Fineman over the years has appeared on major public affairs shows, such as Nightline, Face the Nation, Fox News Sunday, Larry King Live, Charlie Rose and the NewsHour. He was a regular panelist on Washington Week in Review on PBS (1983-95) and on CNN's Capital Gang Sunday (1995-98). He worked with Ted Koppel on Nightline specials, and has been a guest on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report."
A native of Pittsburgh, Fineman began his career at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, covering the environment, the coal industry and state politics before joining the newspaper's Washington bureau in 1978. He moved to Newsweek in 1980, was named chief political correspondent in 1984, deputy Washington bureau chief in 1993, senior editor in 1995 and senior Washington correspondent and columnist in 2008.
Fineman holds an A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Colgate, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia and a J.D. from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. His legal education included a year as a visiting student at the Georgetown University Law Center. He received Watson and Pultizer Traveling Fellowships for study in Europe, Russia and the Middle East, and has traveled to more than 40 countries, among them China, Vietnam, Japan, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey and the West Bank Palestinian Territories.
Fineman is married to Amy L. Nathan, a senior counsel at the Federal Communications Commission. They live in Washington with their two children, Meredith and Nicholas.
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