Obamamania continues in the news, from coast to coast. The Los Angeles Times and New York Times both look at Obama’s college days. The Los Angeles Times describes his years on the Harvard Law Review as good preparation for being President:
Barack Obama’s entry into politics came on a winter morning at the white-columned Harvard Law Review building when, about 2 a.m., a deeply divided editorial staff chose him as the first African American to lead the prestigious publication.
It was no small accomplishment. Obama, who at nearly 30 was older and more world-wise than most of his classmates, had to navigate among sharply drawn factions of conservatives and liberals to beat 18 other candidates for the job.
Today, Obama’s weighing of a bid for the White House has provoked questions about whether he has the experience to build a winning coalition of voters. But at Harvard Law Review he showed that — on a much smaller scale — he had the savvy to maneuver through turbulent political waters.”The Harvard Law Review was a place of petty and vicious internal politics,” said Brad Berenson, an editorial board member with Obama and, more recently, an associate counsel to President Bush.
“Compared to Washington and the White House and the Supreme Court, the Harvard Law Review was much more politically vicious,” Berenson said. “The conservatives threw their support to Obama because he could bridge the gap between both camps and retain the trust and confidence of both.”
The New York Times also notes elements of his college life which trouble some people about him today, and largely sums up how I felt after reading The Audacity of Hope:
But mainly, Mr. Obama stayed away from the extremes of campus debate, often choosing safe topics for his speeches. At the black law students’ annual conference, he exhorted students to remember the obligations that came with their privileged education. His speeches, delivered in the oratorical manner of a Baptist minister, were more memorable for style than substance, Mr. Mack said.
“It’s the inspiration of the speech rather than the specific content,” he said.
While some see his years on the law review as evidence of his skills, others question if these are the right skills to make one a great President:
Another of Mr. Obama’s techniques relied on his seemingly limitless appetite for hearing the opinions of others, no matter how redundant or extreme. That could lead to endless debates — a mouse infestation at the review office provoked a long exchange about rodent rights — as well as some uncertainty about what Mr. Obama himself thought about the issue at hand.
In dozens of interviews, his friends said they could not remember his specific views from that era, beyond a general emphasis on diversity and social and economic justice.
Instead, they wonder how the style of leadership they observed on campus could translate to another kind of historic presidency.
“The things that make law school politics fractious are different from the things that make American politics fractious,” said Ron Klain, who preceded Mr. Obama at the law review and later served as Vice President Al Gore’s chief of staff. Mr. Klain has watched the senator’s rise.
“The interesting caveat,” he said, “is that is a style of leadership more effective running a law review than running a country.”
The Washington Post has an article on Hilary Clinton, but Obama even winds up dominating this as it dicsusses her problems in Iowa:
Obama’s appearance at an annual steak fry hosted by Harkin last fall helped touch off interest in Obama’s presidential bid. The Clinton campaign regards him as a candidate who has enormous potential appeal but who is untested in the rigors of national campaigns.
Edwards, who finished second in the 2004 caucuses, has been to Iowa 17 times since the beginning of 2005, maintaining his network of supporters. None of the other Democrats underestimates his strength in the state, although several strategists in Iowa say he may have trouble holding his position over the course of the year.
“John Edwards has been out there a lot, and he ran before, and since that time he’s been cultivating people, meeting them in living rooms, signing up people, and that means a lot,” said Harkin, who is supporting Vilsack.
“And then Barack Obama, when he came to my steak fry — I haven’t seen anything like that since Robert Kennedy ran for president.”
