Over on the homepage, I have a piece on some of Obama’s nicer qualities that seem to have disappeared lately: his mature, humble honesty and willingness to admit when he’s wrong.

I’ve come across other examples since finishing the piece. One memorable one is Obama, speaking to Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendell, early in his primary campaign for Senate, when he is asked what he thought of the city’s spending on the Millennium Park development, which was behind schedule and over budget. Obama’s rhetoric would suggest he would prefer the money be spent elsewhere, but criticizing the project would have alienated key allies.

Obama’s response to Mendell: “How do you really expect me to answer that? If I told you how I really felt, I’d be committing political suicide right now.”

Another good example: Shortly before the 2004 Senate primary, Mendell wrote about Obama’s state legislative office sending out a “Legislative Update” that “looked suspiciously like campaign advertising… arriving in mailboxes just days before an ethics law prohibiting elected officials running for office from dispersing such taxpayer-funded literature. Obama had written the ethics law himself.” Obama calls to complain that the article was unfair, and Mendell responds that the mailing broke the spirit of the law if not the letter.

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” he said. “And between you and me, I chewed out my staff for mailing that out when they did. It should have gone out a long time ago.”

A cynic will see Obama blaming the staff again, but state legislators have staff to send out the mail. And whether or not you agree with Obama on issues, there’s something admirable about a politician who concedes, “Yup, I messed up.”

The contrast with yesterday’s inane “These aren’t folks who are working for me” excuse regarding Jim Johnson on his vice-presidential search committee couldn’t be starker. It’s hard to believe the Old Obama would approve of the way the New Obama handles things.