If media people like David Gregory don’t want conservatives to mock Obama as the liberals’ idea of the Messiah, then perhaps they should steer away from accusing those who discount Obama’s powers as committing ”heresy.” From Sunday’s Meet the Press:
Here’s a question about his style of leadership. To say that President Obama is not an inspirational figure would strike a lot of people, especially defenders, as almost heresy. But my question is, has he found a way to reach people’s hearts when it’s not about him and his historic journey, when it’s about them and their struggles?
Gregory spoke of “heresy,” and that’s what he drew from David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, who said Obama paled next to Reagan’s talents:
Well, I don’t want to get too gooey about this. He’s a president. You know, he’s not–that’s what he–he’s a politician. He’s, he’s out to make policy advances, policy victories. He does not have the same talents as Ronald Reagan, he doesn’t have the same talents as FDR. He is himself. And there’s a certain coolness to his affect. I think a lot of foreign leaders wonder why he’s not in closer touch with them. Where is the love, some, some of the Israelis certainly think in the last couple of weeks have–and they’ve been struck by his reticence, his personal reticence.
Remnick then saves himself from the charge of “heresy” by hailing the health bill’s “historic” passage:
But the question is, what can he achieve? What, what are the major victories he can bring? And he just had a really historic victory, we shouldn’t forget, on health care, despite the limitations of the bill itself.