Politico

Caution

October 11th, 2008 · No Comments

My story today:

Senator Barack Obama has taken a commanding lead in the race for president not because of any dramatic gesture, but because of a signature political trait: His caution. The nation’s economic crisis triggered Obama’s sharp rise in what had been a tight race. But Obama hasn’t tried to seize the kind of central, national leadership position for which McCain grasped, and fell short. Nor has he been touting - Bill Clinton-style - a highly detailed plan for what he’ll do the moment he takes office. The result is that while virtually all observers agree that he has benefited from the crisis, his allies and critics alike remain a bit hazy on what exactly he’d do if he takes office January 20, 2009. "He’s certainly laid out all the right elements that are needed for an economic recovery, but nobody’s sure at this point which ones will be at the very top of his priority list when he takes office," said Thea Lee, the chief economist for the AFL-CIO. "To my knowledge, he’s said absolutely nothing about what he would do," said Glenn Hubbard, a former chairman of Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors who is now the dean of Columbia Business School. Obama has often thrived in this campaign by talking in foggy terms about his plans, here and abroad. It frustrates critics – and some voters looking for clear indications of how he would lead – but also provides tremendous flexibility for adjusting positions now and in the White House if he wins. In fact, Obama has talked about the economy - only softly. Many of his key plans - for economic stimulus, for attending to the troubled housing market, and for financial regulations - are policy prescriptions he and other Democrats have been discussing about for months or more. Several became urgent - and in some cases passed into law - when the crisis deepened last month. Publicly, though, he’s said little, repeatedly answering a question in the first debate about what priorities would have to be set aside owing to the cost of the bailout with a list of the many programs he’d nonetheless provide. McCain was hardly more specific, though he did finally say he’d seek to freeze almost all federal spending. "Steady leadership is not just about having ideas - it’s about having consistent ideas and working to make them happen," said Obama’s director of economic policy, Jason Furman.