The American Mind

Sen. Barack Obama’s “new politics” bubble has burst in the punditsphere. On Obama not taking public funds for the general election Michael van der Galien writes,

It’s opportunistic, and from a political perspective Obama’s choice makes sense. After all, he’s able to raise so much money that he public funding would limit his options considerably.

However, when he did not have money, he pretended that public financing was a matter of principles. We now see that he either lied, or that he is more than willing to throw principles under ‘the truck’ when said principles are inconvenient.

For the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editors it’s like their hearts were broken:

But the bottom line here: Obama billed himself as a new kind of politician. It turns out, on campaign finance reform, he meant new as in those pre-Watergate politicians….

But it’s clear what has happened here. Obama surprised even himself with his fund-raising prowess. So public financing be damned. We expected more of a “new kind of politician.”

“New politics” gets thrown under the bus like Jim Johnson, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and the Trinity Church. Another Obama attribute about to go under is the idea he can bridge the partisan divide. He has to oppose his own party first.

Then we have David Brooks’ description of the Illinois Senator:

But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes.

This guy is the whole Chicago package: an idealistic, lakefront liberal fronting a sharp-elbowed machine operator. He’s the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he’s too intelligent. He speaks so calmly and polysyllabically that people fail to appreciate the Machiavellian ambition inside.

Those already caught up in the Obama mystique won’t easily fall away as judged by Ann Althouse [via Instapundit]. In fact, I don’t think polls will move much in the near term, despite the reaction to the unscientific AOL poll Ed Morrissey posted. It does give Sen. McCain an opening to be the more authentic and honest candidate. That will take time building it brick by brick. Such efforts could push over Obama’s slick marketing tower.