WASHINGTON -- I come to this moment of national decision with deep
concerns about the next president. His victory is likely to unleash an
ideological and vengeful Democratic Congress. In the testing of a long
campaign, Barack Obama has seemed thoughtful, but sometimes hesitant and
unsure of his bearings. He promises outreach and healing, but holds to a
liberalism that sees no need for innovation. And as the result of a
financial panic that unfairly undermined all Republicans, Obama has
stumbled into the most dangerous kind of victory. A mandate for change but
not for ideas. A mandate without clear meaning.
But a presidential election is more than a political choice; it is a
moral dividing line. It involves not just the triumph of a majority but a
transfer of legitimacy that binds the minority as well. This is a largely
undiscussed topic in modern political debate: legitimacy. It is a kind of
democratic magic that turns votes into authority. It does not require
political agreement. It does imply a patriotic respect for the processes of
government and a determination to honor the president for the sake of the
office he holds.
In the last few decades, the magic of legitimacy has seemed to fade.
Opponents of President Bill Clinton turned their disagreements (and
Clinton's own human failures) into an assault on his power. Some turned to
insane conspiracy theories, including accusations of politically motivated
murder. After President George W. Bush's re-election, elements of the left
began their own attack on his legitimacy, talking of impeachment while
repeating their own lunatic theories of deception and criminality.
After a deserved honeymoon, the new president is likely to find that
the intensity of this bitterness has only gathered. Because of the
ideological polarization of cable TV news, talk radio and the Internet,
Americans can now get their information from entirely partisan sources.
They can live, if they choose, in an ideological world of their own
creation, viewing anyone outside that world as an idiot or criminal, and
finding plenty who will cheer their intemperance. Liberals have perfected
this machinery of disdain over the last few years. Given the provocation,
the same approach is likely to be turned against the new president by the
right as well.
Barack Obama's first years may well be dominated by a recession and a
swiftly arming Iran. Some conservatives will be tempted to take joy from
his inevitable struggles; others to spin conspiracy theories from his
background and associations. It will be easy to blame every emerging
challenge on the faults and failures of an inexperienced young president.
But it will be more difficult for me.
I remember the vivid days of possibility that follow a presidential
victory. I happened to be in the Roosevelt Room in January 2001 just as the
portrait of Teddy Roosevelt, heroic on horseback, was moved over the
fireplace, where it hangs during Republican administrations. And I know
someone will be watching when Franklin Roosevelt is moved back to the place
of honor, feeling the same hope and burden that I felt.
There is a tremendous sense of history and responsibility that comes
with serving in the White House. You gain an appreciation for the
conflicted choices others have faced -- and for the untamed role of history
in frustrating the best of plans. It becomes easier to understand a
president's challenges, and harder to question his motives. Ultimately, I
believe that every president, and the staff he hires, feels the duty to
serve a single national interest. And ultimately we need our presidents to
succeed, not to fail for our own satisfaction or vindication.
This presidency in particular should be a source of pride even for
those who do not share its priorities. An African-American will take the
oath of office blocks from where slaves were once housed in pens and sold
for profit. He will sleep in a house built in part by slave labor, near the
room where Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation with firm hand. He
will host dinners where Teddy Roosevelt in 1901 entertained the first
African-American as a guest; command a military that was not officially
integrated until 1948. Every event, every act, will complete a cycle of
history. It will be the most dramatic possible demonstration that the
promise of America -- so long deferred -- is not a lie.
I suspect I will have many substantive criticisms of the new
administration, beginning soon enough. Today I have only one message for
Barack Obama, who will be our president, my president: Hail to the Chief.