What Obama has learned from the Gates arrest
By Byron Tau | Related entries in NewsThere’s a classic scene in the West Wing where gay rights activist Ted Marcus denounces President Bartlett for refusing to publicly condemn an anti-gay measure being considered by the House.
MARCUS
Why won’t you say that publicly?BARTLET
[yells] Because I know what I’m doing, Ted! Because I live in the world of professional politics, and you live in the world of adolescent tantrum!
[snip]
Right now, right this second, the worst thing that could possibly happen to gay rights in this country is for me to put that thing on the debating table, which is happens the minute I open my mouth. Do you get that? I’m a human starting gun, Ted. You got to trust me! I know what I’m doing.
This is President Obama’s first lesson in being a “human starting gun.” When the Gates arrest hit the blogs and the newspapers last week, there’s was little chance that cooler heads would prevail. However, President Obama’s offhanded comments in his news conference on health care made the story headline news for CNN and the networks all weekend long. Stuck at work and glued to CNN on Friday night, I could only shake my head in dismay at the number of headlines, web comments and professional talking head appearances generated by a relatively minor incident.
The story spawned legions of blog posts, commentary, counter-commentary, righteous posturing and counter-posturing and finally, an invitation by Obama for both Gates and the arresting officer James Crowley to come to the White House, have a beer and discuss the situation rationally.
It was a typical Obama move — to defuse a situation with grace, charm and reach out personally to the involved parties to continue the dialogue in person. But Obama has learned an even more valuable lesson — that weighing in on an issue, no matter how minor, was tantamount to  making it topic number one in the national political conversation. When the President speaks, the chattering classes will listen — but the story can spiral out of control once it hits the airwaves, the presses and the blogs.
As Chris Matthews noted in his book Hardball, this is also a variation of a lesson that Newt Gingrich learned as Speaker of the House. “Only talk when it improves the silence,” Matthews cautions in his political manifesto.
Each day the network cameras would descend on the Speaker’s press conference armed with the daily story. Whatever had happened earlier that day — a hurricane, an unfortunate remark by a colleague, a scandal–Speaker Gingrich would be asked for his reaction. Before long, Gingrich would be would be associated in the public’s mind with bad news. Eventually, given his penchant for attention grabbing remarks–”Men like to hunt giraffes”–New Gingrich would be the bad news.
A worthy lesson indeed.
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July 27th, 2009 at 3:57 am
All true, but is Obama to blame for thinking the people can handle a sophisticated, nuanced commentary on racial politics in America; or is the media, the public and the GOP to blame for being incapable of dealing with what he said in an adult way? Obama showed himself to be politically naive, but others showed themselves to be either gullible or mischievous.
How much of a story would this whole sorry affair have produced if the original headlines had reflected what he actually said in his comments, i.e. “Obama refuses to say Gates arrest was racially motivated”; or “Obama defends sanctity of the home, black or white”?
July 27th, 2009 at 7:41 am
One, this whole thing isn’t a *huge* deal, but I have to think that many are troubled by a POTUS who is “politically naive.”
July 27th, 2009 at 8:12 am
To me, Obama’s comments were a potentially huge deal because he has prejudiced a potential court if there is any future litigation in this case. There is no way that officer Crowley can recieve a fair trial if he is accused of harassment, since the President of the United States of America has already declared him guilty. Similarly, even if Professor Gates was truly aggrieved, he might have to have his case thrown because the court has been biased. President Obama is a lawyer, he should know better.
July 27th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Newt Gingrich -ye gods! There will be no court case…Gates and Crowley could have reacted differently…Obama should have kept quiet. I think that he realizes that fact now…
July 27th, 2009 at 9:36 am
I am not convinced that this story lacked legs prior to Obama’s input.
And I am even less surprised that after Obama’s comments, his detractors criticized him. Because I am 100% certain that if he hadn’t said anything, we’d now be overrun by comments whining that the president was showing cowardice and a lack of leadership by remaining silent.
I think it’s stupid to make the Gates-Crowley incident about President Obama. And while I agree that Presidential comments inevitably run the risk of pumping up the volume, I don’t think the President should avoid making comments simply for this reason. Especially given how prone partisans are to criticizing the President when he remains silent.
See the clever conundrum that moronic partisans of both wings craft with their prepackaged approach? Make a statement and you are the “human starting gun”, pumping up the volume and making everyone lose their minds. Remain silent and you are showing that you lack courage and are failing to show leadership.
IMO, the President has the right to his opinion, and the responsibility to voice it if he think his input is useful or important. I am 100 A-OK with the President exercising his prerogative to either speak or not speak.
So you’ll seldom catch me saying either
or
I try never to hold any President responsible for partisans, journalists, ands self-styled pundits who act like douche bags. Whenever the windbag gets pumped to epic proportions, I blame the people who produce the winds. A presidential statement is always a convenient excuse for pumping, but it’s not the real cause. The politico-media-blogpundit-sphere is just crammed with folks eager to blow. We should know by now that they need scant excuse.
From 2000 to 2008, I tried to tell folk that even if you didn’t like GWB, its was domb to make every issue about him. The same goes for Obama. Gates-Crowley isn’t about the President, it’s about us.
July 28th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Neither Gates nor Crowley behaved in a mature or dignified manner- citizens should be more respectful and understanding, even when police respond to mistaken reports, and police should try not to arrest folks for “contempt of cop.” I don’t see the beef between these 2 guys as a NATIONAL issue, nor can I see why it was brought up, nor why Obama answered it. It is a distraction from far more important issues- such as health care, which was what the press conference was supposed to be about.