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Barack Obama: Visionary Miminalist

By Kleinheider Posted on November 10, 2008 at 1:12 pm

From Cass Sunstein:

Political minimalism has a distinguished tradition in U.S. politics. In recent history, President George H.W. Bush stands as the leading minimalist. To the extent that Bush succeeded, especially in foreign affairs, it was because he enlisted diverse people, and diverse views, on behalf of the policies he chose.

Other public officials are visionaries. They have a large-scale vision about the direction in which the nation should go. They believe in big steps, not small ones.

Above all, these visionaries seek to alter the nation’s self-conception. In changing policy on the economy, or on national defense, they are entirely comfortable with asserting that their vision is the superior one and that alternative visions should be rejected. When they succeed, they transform how the nation understands itself.

Our greatest presidents — including Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt — have been visionaries. In recent American history, President Ronald Reagan stands as the leading visionary.

Obama is something new in American politics — and not just for the obvious reasons. He is a visionary minimalist. This is a key both to his extraordinary campaign and to his unique promise. It even helps explain his conception of public service.

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Comments

14 Responses to “Barack Obama: Visionary Miminalist”

  1. Jon writes
    November 10th, 2008 1:44 pm

    I hear Philip Glass has been tapped to write the new anthem.

  2. John Lamb writes
    November 10th, 2008 1:45 pm

    Sunstein was my favorite professor at Chicago Law - I hope he retains his advisor status to Obama, since the rumor mills indicate he won’t be joining the administration in any capacity.

  3. Zhombre writes
    November 11th, 2008 8:25 am

    Visionary minimalist. Hmmmm … is that another way of saying empty suit?

  4. Koblog writes
    November 11th, 2008 8:28 am

    It’s easy to be a minimalist when the media covers for you.

    Joe the Plumber was a minimalist too. The media destroyed him in two days.

    All a matter of digging.

  5. Ozymandias writes
    November 11th, 2008 8:54 am

    You mean a man of minimal vision do you not?

  6. Greg Toombs writes
    November 11th, 2008 9:04 am

    Miminalist?

  7. Greg Toombs writes
    November 11th, 2008 9:07 am

    Minimalism is why sea levels will begin to fall January 20th?

  8. craig writes
    November 11th, 2008 9:10 am

    “Visionary minimalist” means Obama is Chauncey Gardner, the media darling whose every utterance is credited with profundity despite meaning nothing at all.

    (Of course, the “Being There” character was written as a slam at Reagan, but as anyone who has read his writings can readily attest, Reagan was wrongly accused. Reagan’s ideas were comprehensive, clear-eyed, and well-versed in the particulars. But the left can explain opposition to leftism only by accusing its opponents of idiocy or malice, witness BDS.)

  9. rich monahan writes
    November 11th, 2008 9:10 am

    “visionary minimalist” another term for I don’t know what the i think.

  10. rich monahan writes
    November 11th, 2008 9:11 am

    “visionary minimalist” another term for I don’t know what the hell i think. sorry

  11. Diggs writes
    November 11th, 2008 9:35 am

    As you define the term “visionary”, it appears to contradict the use of the term “minimalist”. So I’m a bit confused.
    Not as confused as an Obama supporter, I admit, but confused nonetheless.

  12. willis writes
    November 11th, 2008 10:35 am

    The Obama visions as here-to-fore portrayed show lots of motion, but no substance. I think the best description for him is “Visionary Rube Goldberg.”

  13. Foo writes
    November 11th, 2008 11:35 am

    re: craig, November 11th, 2008 9:10 am

    Being There was written in 1971, long before Reagan.

    See here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_There_(film)#Inspiration

  14. Norm Conquest writes
    November 11th, 2008 11:52 am

    In 1971, Reagan had been a leading figure in the Conservative movement for more than seven years and governor of California for four years. If Nixon hadn’t run for a second term, Reagan would have been a favorite for the 1972 nomination.

    And the left and the press hated him even more than Nixon at that point.

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