Hillary/Wesley Clark 2012?

Will Obama run again in 2012? Conventional wisdom says yes, incumbents always do. But others are driven by power, while Obama is driven more by an academic sensory motivator. He sees himself giving speeches, like Kennedy, like Roosevelt, like Lincoln. He sees himself in hindsight. In this he is the anti-Reagan, as Reagan had set objectives and didn’t care what history or anyone thought of him. (Nor did Roosevelt and Lincoln, for that matter.)

As he is not power-motivated as an individual and as a president — as Romney is, as Hillary is — and has never been so in his career, he will not correctly intuit power and it could well get beyond him. Perhaps it already has: The world beyond senses poor power motivation (that is, it senses weakness) and responds as nature does, red in tooth and nail. It did with Jimmy Carter and quickly. It could as well with Obama.

Obama has already completed his mission. Let’s talk straight: He wanted to be the first black president, and that is what the American people wanted of him as well. That is all. If he stays until 2016 and the pop culture prediction of an end-of-the-world flood in 2012 turns out to be one of paper money, it could really screw that up. And so many other things could go wrong. Already are.

It was being said two years back by wags and pundits — just before Obama popped up — that there was no longer a Democratic Party. There were only the Clintons, and that was where all the money was going. Then Obama found a moment via Oprah, via Caroline Kennedy and Uncle Teddy, via 100 million voters beat with the war on Iraq and seeking novelty. But he did not seek this presidency for himself aggressively, as others do.

Then why would he place his chief competitor, Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.), in as secretary of State? Corporate power management would send her into exile with hubby in tow to mark the territory. She was only half-qualified (at best) to be president when she ran in 2008. Now, as secretary of State she is fully qualified to run in the first rank in 2012, thanks to Obama. Did Obama want change, or just a moment of celebration before he returned the party, intact, to its Clinton root?

Actual change agents — Reagan, Kennedy, Roosevelt, Lincoln — bring in all new people. Obama brought back all the old Clinton people, including Hillary, who was supposed to be president by now.

It is not on the radar now, but it is worth watching from a distance. Hillary rising and Obama receding. Then Obama stepping aside in 2012 and returning to a comfy chaired professorship at the University of Chicago and trillions in speaking engagements. Mission accomplished. Obama a world avatar.

Then Hillary running in 2012 with Gen. Wesley Clark as VP. The way it was supposed to be in 2008 until a coyote appeared out of nowhere on Main Street in Chicago.

Visit Mr. Quigley’s website at http://quigleyblog.blogspot.com.