One of the things that attracted me to Hillary Clinton is that I was absolutely convinced she would tear down the world rather than lose. As I enjoy our current mediocre political class, I hardly care that this spooks the best and brightest away from politics. But better, I know that if Hillary ever became President, there was no possibility that the Oval Office would be occupied by someone who despised American power.

Considering Obama’s concerns about white folks’ green running a world in need, the Senator from Illinois hasn’t been so re-assuring. But David Books highlights Obama’s will to power, in a way that implies that Obama might just rise to that Clinton kind of standard…

Soob: David Brooks on the Two Obama’s
And Fast Eddie Obama didn’t just sell out the primary cause of his life. He did it with style. He did it with a video so risibly insincere that somewhere down in the shadow world, Lee Atwater is gaping and applauding. Obama blamed the (so far marginal) Republican 527s. He claimed that private donations are really public financing. He made a cut-throat political calculation seem like Mother Teresa’s final steps to sainthood.

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I have to admit, I’m ambivalent watching all this. On the one hand, Obama did sell out the primary cause of his professional life, all for a tiny political advantage. If he’ll sell that out, what won’t he sell out? On the other hand, global affairs ain’t beanbag. If we’re going to have a president who is going to go toe to toe with the likes of Vladimir Putin, maybe it is better that he should have a ruthlessly opportunist Fast Eddie Obama lurking inside.

Hillary Clinton has long since proven she could be a Daniel Plainview kind of President. And by reassuring us that his power is more important than his vow, Obama is doing the same.