Predicting President Obama’s Performance
Is it possible to foretell how a president will lead based on a set of indicators culled from past precedents? That's a hard call -- but John Dean is willing to take his chances in his latest column about the future of America's highest office.
Is it possible to foretell how a president will lead based on a set of indicators culled from past precedents? That’s a hard call — but John Dean is willing to take his chances in his latest column about the future of America’s highest office.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...FindLaw:
Now the good news. After observing candidate Barack Obama, and reading his two memoirs, “Dreams from my Father” and “The Audacity of Hope,” I strongly believe that he is a prototypical “active/positive” president — under the criteria of Barber’s analysis. For that reason, allow me to further draw from Barber’s work, to highlight the portrait of an active/positive president’s key characteristics — quoting Barber’s analysis as follows — for it provides a portrait of the coming Obama presidency, if Barber is correct:
A conviction of capability. The President soon reaches the conclusion that despite weaknesses he knows about, he is fully able to meet the challenges of the job.
This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.