Just as Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley was able to excite the overwhelming majority of white voters, during his victory in 1973, so did President Obama in his success of 2008. President Obama like Bradley, never pointed the finger at his political opponents, or tried to use race, in any way to set the stage for success of any issue. "Moderation in the defense of liberty is no vice." Tom Bradley and Barack Obama, a few generations apart, use and used the power of political moderation to get legislation passed, and had to negotiate with some extreme minded politicians without rancor. This is the secret of the Obama administration: Anchoring the great political middle and passing more important legislation in his first couple of years in power that any other President in history.When race does become a distracting headline, Obama like Bradley, stood fast for reason over rhetoric.The late Mayor recounted to a few people, how he used to pick cotton in Texas, at 7 years of age--his hands bleeding, and how he wanted a better life.President Obama had a less dramatic upbringing, yet got the message that using race, politically, is a losing proposition.Critics try to push the 44th President into a corner, both from the left and right of the political spectrum. However, he like Tom Bradley, knows that extremism is not an American virtue. Deputy Mayor Maury Weiner recounts how Mayor Bradley was able to attract the support of the California leader of the conservative American Independent Party. President Obama will have less luck with the tea party, but with his moderate approach to governing, he may pull some of its membership, his way, duing the 2012 election.
---bob kholos
Comments