OBAMA EXAMINED

Posted at 8:15 a.m. ET

Related to our item, "The Anguished Left," just below:  Jennifer Rubin, at Pajamas Media, can be very tough on Barack Obama.  But here she lightens up, suggesting that there may be some good things on the horizon.  We certainly hope so, but we'll keep both eyes open.  It's remarkable, though, that two weeks before his inauguration, we actually know so little about our next president:

The contours of his agenda are still not crystal clear, but some of the blanks have been filled in over the last two months.

For starters, the fear of some on the Right — and the hope of those on the Left — that President-elect Obama was an ultra-dove, a sort of Manchurian candidate, has been largely discredited. His choice of a national security team filled with center-right figures and even a Bush administration defense secretary has shaken the Left. His plans for a gradual draw down of U.S. troops in Iraq and a prompt buildup in Afghanistan are virtually indistinguishable from McCain’s.

It will be great if she's right.  We reserve judgment.  He hasn't put his own stapler on the desk yet.

We have also learned that the media’s love affair with the president-elect is largely unrequited...

...The imbalance in his press relationship — devotion on one side and evasion, verging on testiness, on the other — may suggest rockier times lay ahead.

But he'll always have Chris Matthews. 

President-elect Obama also demonstrated a reticence to weigh in on big and contentious issues when the end game was far from certain. He stayed away from the Georgia Senate run-off race, refused comment on the Gaza incursion...

...What remains to be seen is whether this will be his presidential modus operandi — sort of a Zen-like indifference to storms raging about him — or whether he is just waiting to spring into action on January 20.

And...

We also confirmed, if there was any doubt remaining, that New Politics was a convenient campaign slogan and a hook for energizing the Democratic base, but not much more. The Clinton team is back in great numbers...

Yeah, and Chicago style politics is on display.  Not too much change to believe in.  Looks pretty routine thus far.

President-elect Obama also let it be known he’s not interested in continuing the culture wars. Rick Warren got an invite to the inauguration and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military may get a reprieve.

The panic has already begun.

How this will play out once Obama is sworn is still an open question. Will he be a wishy-washy, indecisive figure like Jimmy Carter or a savvy deal-maker like LBJ? Will he be more like George W. Bush on national security than either his supporters or opponents ever imagined?

Finally...

But, if the transition is any clue, he is unlikely to be a radical, rely on underqualified yes men, spend too much time with the press, involve himself in extraneous issues, or refight divisive cultural issues. That is not a bad recipe for success.

No it's not.  As we said, we reserve judgment.  And there have been a few unpleasant ripples, like the appointment of an environmental team that seems in the tank for the global-warming religion.  But, by and large, Mr. Obama has appeared to be on an even keel. 

Our position here is clear:  We will praise him when we think he's right, oppose him when we think he's wrong.  We want him to succeed, as long as the definition of success is reasonable.

January 5, 2009.