"A Musical Comedy Presidency"

Fred Siegel is unimpressed with Obama:

Only Clinton derangement syndrome can explain the alliance of so many otherwise thoughtful people of both parties who speak well of the candidacy of a man with scant knowledge of the world who has never been tested and has never run anything larger than a senatorial office. The question that we need to ask is whether this manwho candidly admits, “I’m not a manager”can manage the vast apparatus of the federal government. Will packaging be enough to deal with our problems?

In 1965, appalled by the unearned adulation for mayoral candidate John Lindsay (who was also considered a future president), Robert Moses warned: “If you elect a matinee idol mayor, you’re going to have a musical comedy administration.” And that’s just what New York got. Substitute “president” for “mayor,” and you can anticipate what might be coming.

This, I predict, will be the main line of argument against Obama in the coming weeks and months (if he wins the nomination). I think the attempt to define him as an old-style left-liberal will fail in the face of the practical difficulties - i.e. what the hell to do in Iraq - ahead of us. And because such lines of argument already seem as exhausted as the people making them.