In a high-profile interview with Matt Lauer that was filmed to coincide with the Super Bowl yesterday (for some fucking reason), President Obama was asked how he felt about supporters who were hoping for more from him during his first term, and somewhat surprisingly, he admitted to Lauer that when you're president, "you get better as time goes on."
This is one of those things that are plainly, stupidly obvious when you think about them, yet still surprising to hear a president say, because the other side could theoretically turn that into an attack line - i.e., "we need a president who's ready on day one!"
I seem to recall Hillary Clinton trying that out once, actually; how did that work out again?
Speaking as one of the aforementioned early supporters, I definitely like that he's willing to admit that, even if he mostly goes on to blame Congress for the lack of transformational momentum over the last few years. It's one thing to not accomplish huge things, but it's another to not own up to the situation and try to hyper-inflate the significance of what you have done.
I'm sure he'd go on and on about how wonderful the health care reform package ended up being, for example, but simply by engaging with the question of liberals' disappointment, he's lending at least a little credence to the viewpoint that he could have done much better. Certainly more credence than Bush ever did.
(Side Note: for the next four weeks, I am conducting a survey of visitors to this blog. Whether you're a regular reader or this is your first time, I'd love to hear from you - just follow this link. This notice will accompany every post this month, with Saturday, March 3rd being the final day to participate. Thanks for reading!)
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