Freedom Line Blog

Credit erstwhile presidential campaign failure Bob Shrum for extolling some counter-intuitive thinking in his column today.  In it, he praises President Obama for outthinking everyone inside and outside the Beltway on the economy, health care, and the Machiavellian intrigue surrounding his inner circle.

To pluck but one morsel from his witch’s brew of analysis, Shrum claims that Obama has been the tortoise to the media’s hare – patiently biding his time until history was ripe for a final push towards victory:

Obama’s strategy, partly shaped by events, also reflects the combination of qualities that brought him to the Oval Office—and makes it more than likely that he will reach the goal that has eluded the nation since Theodore Roosevelt first proposed national health care in 1912. Obama has been “a steel fist in a velvet glove”—Carl Standburg’s description of Lincoln. The president who doesn’t panic, didn’t.

There we have it.  Obama isn’t aloof, or out of his depth.  Instead, he’s a one-gloved Lincoln.  Maybe Bob can get an early start on running Obama’s reelection campaign into the ground.  Shrum in 2012!