The Doge Abides: Leadership and Jeff Lebowski

As everyone knows, Barack Obama has not been a transformational president. He rode a wave of immense popularity into the White House, but squandered his political capital early in his administration to push through an eviscerated, zombie-like health care reform act and take the probably necessary but painful steps of bailing out banks, the automobile industry, and enacting economic stimulus. To be fair, Obama has had to deal with several once in a generation crises and some awkward albatrosses like a Nobel Peace Prize and international superstardom. Nevertheless, Obama is no Jeff Lebowski...and that's a bad thing.

Campaign manager. Check.

Of course no one would ever vote for Jeff Lebowski (the little Lebowski from the The Big Lebowski) for President and at first glance you probably couldn't think of any way you'd like Barack Obama to emulate "the Dude." However JL has one thing that BO doesn't have: according to Sam Elliot he was "the man for his time and place." Jeff wasn't the ideal man, but he was exactly the right man for navigating shallow, kooky, anything-goes Los Angeles. His degree of ineptitude, greed, passivity, laziness, connivance, compassion, and cowardliness were exactly the combination necessary to see him through the dangerous situation he was facing. He was by no means perfect, but he was the right man for the job.

Media resonance. Check.

Of course Barack Obama has a lot more than Jeff Lebowski in the way of presidential qualifications, but his enviable charm, pragmatism, and intelligence are not the combination our country needs right now. Obama understands the political landscape. He is well aware of what it takes to get stuff done in Washington. He knows how to work a crowd and convince us that we are better than we are. He is quite skilled at reading the American public, and pandering to our whims. Unfortunately, he does not seem so skilled at leading the American people, which is what we need right now. Perhaps at a time when America was less turned off by politics and more engaged that would have been ok, but right now we need a leader not a poster-boy.

We need someone to inspire us to make sacrifices because he himself is making sacrifices. We need someone to inspire us to take risks by taking real political risks himself. We need someone to believe in ideals higher than a churning economy and a polished reputation. We need inspiration to be better people than we are, but Obama (and most other fearful, poll-beholden elected officials) is like an indulgent parent treating the American people like spoiled children who want cake (read "jobs") now. Instead of coddling us and making promises about how to get us our cake as soon as possible, I would like to see a politician dare to raise the debate to a higher plane. Talk to us seriously and courageously about some bigger issues like how we really got where we are now, what pillars shaky or sturdy our economy is built on, and what kind of country we will leave for our grandkids if politicians continue to kowtow to the myopic, presentist, simplistic demands of the American people as interpreted by the pollsters (who never ask questions like "would you sell your soul for a job?").

Muscle. Check.

I don't want someone who knows how to play the game. I don't want someone who "inspires confidence." I don't want someone who looks good on TV. I just want a president who is courageous enough to make a stand on unpopular issues, to help us change our thinking even if it costs him reelection. I want a President who cares more about policy than about reelection. I want my President to convince me to embrace higher taxes (so that my grandkids don't have to pay them), to pay more for oil, gas, and electricity (by not using my tax dollars to subsidize its skyrocketing costs, both internal and external), and to support a fight for the new type of government that Mr. Obama promised (by ceasing to tolerate the increasing influence of well-finanaced special interests in the process for selecting and electing candidates for government office).

Frightening alternative. Check.

Lawrence Lessig was recently interviewed on C-span and said that when Obama received his first budget from Congress his instinct was to veto it because of the thousands of earmarks it contained. The "cooler" heads around him convinced him that it wasn't worth alienating both Democrats and Republicans by pulling such a stunt. Lessig believes that when Obama signed it he lost the moral high ground and along with it his chance to reform government. Jeff Lebowski may not have understood the budget, but he wouldn't have been nearly so calculating, political, or partisan and might have had the guts to veto it, or at least to take a leak on its rug.

My hope is that if BO wins a second term he will be freed from worrying about the next election cycle and will be able to start thinking more about his legacy, which at this point will be dubious at best. Show some real courage, Mr. President, or step aside so we can find the right person for the job. I know he or she is out there and no matter how bad it gets, I agree with Sam Elliot, "The Dude Abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowing he's out there." If we could just get him to run for office.