Honeymoon Now, Inevitable Disappointment Later

Labor, Latinos and members of the Democratic left who oppose the war in Iraq continue to grit their teeth, but one month after his election as the 44th president, Barack Obama has earned some pretty decent reviews from Republicans.

Centrist, pragmatist, moderate, realist — pick any one — conservative writers have largely approved of Obama’s personnel choices and willingness to blow off his base. Of course, as they ask just how much of a centrist Obama really is, what they are really asking themselves is: “When is this guy going to step in it?” But they know in time he will.

Michael Gerson, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, wrote in his Washington Post column that Obama’s Cabinet so far is “a lineup generous in its moderation, astonishing for its continuity, startling for its stability.” He added that Obama’s course proves Bush had been pursuing centrist, bipartisan policies without getting the credit for it, and that Obama is finding the limits of a “movement” that “never had much ideological content.” Though Gerson ignores that the lack of ideology in Obama’s pitch was likely purposeful, he goes on to conclude: “Obama is doing something marvelously right: He is disappointing the ideologues. This is more than any of us hoped — and it is causing some of us to raise our hopes in Obama again.”

Pretty strong words. Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard wrote, “The Washington cliché about appointments is that personnel is policy. It’s an exaggeration but essentially true. If Obama wants to pursue economic and national security policies that would thrill MoveOn.org, William Ayers and the Democratic left, he has a funny way of showing it. The only reasonable conclusion is he’s spurning the left.”

Rich Lowry at the National Review wrote, “The great theorist of realism Hans Morgenthau warned against the illusion that ‘the final curtain would fall and the game of power politics would never be played.’ At times during the past two years, Obama seemed to believe in the curtain fall. His new national-security team holds out hope that he never did, or doesn’t anymore. This is change you can respect.”

They sound ripe and ready to be disappointed.

HOW LONG WILL THE HONEYMOON LAST BETWEEN THE GOP AND OBAMA? Ask A.B. returns Monday, Dec. 8. Please join my weekly video Q&A by sending your questions and comments to askab@digital-staging.thehill.com. Thank you.