Choosing Nuance or Crisp Bluntness (Obama or McCain)

I recently heard a distinction made between Obama and McCain as that between nuance and crisp bluntness. McCain, who revels in uncomplicated bluntness, posits this as the most effective way to lead, and asserts that Obama’s nuances exhibit indecision and confusion. In defense, the other person in the conversation said nuance shows comprehension and discernment, qualities without which leadership becomes hollow and misguided . Nuance and bluntness are opposites; both are good in the right place. Neither is all wise for all times. In recent years we’ve had an abundance of decisiveness from the White House with nuance ridiculed . The threat of terrorism (though real) has distracted us from troubles of more serious, more comprehensive implications. The future of democracy, the morality of our culture, the health and economic future of each of us arguably is more at risk than our physical “safety.” I suggest we need to do more work and less “fight.” You “wield” fight as a weapon, but you “do” work as a solution. Fighting makes you a hero, working makes you a savior (often unsung). In my mind, if we pick only one of these traits to embrace and avoid the other as bad, we have a ship in trouble--all lean and no ballast. I don’t know yet whether McCain or Obama will be the man to lead us to calm waters, but I hope the one we choose proves to have both decisive lean and well-measured ballast. In their own imbalance, both crispness and nuance can be dangerously inadequate in a President when awakened alone at 3:00 a.m. (without a wife beside him in bed “gaining experience” by listening). I may consider jumping ship if we get only one (determined lean) and not the other (steady ballast) in November. In their own imbalance, crispness and nuance can each be crippling. Postscript: A humorous one-liner is going around: “Jesus was a community organizer; Pontius Pilate was a governor.” Some won’t find this funny, but it does capture the difference in approach between Obama and Palin (McCain by implication), and puts a key difference between the two Presidential candidates in sharp perspective.

The Risk In Voting Your Impressions: A Sponge for Prejudice

I recently said to someone that I was impressed with Barack Obama’s autobiographical book, The Audacity of Hope. The person to whom I spoke replied that he found it hard to “be impressed” with someone with whom he disagreed so strongly on issues. I countered by suggesting that we pause for perspective. In my mind the differences of opinion on issues should not pre-determine judgment about a person’s personal qualities. All admirable people never will be found congregated on one side of any issue. When I said I was impressed by Obama, I meant “issues aside.” Though I would not vote for McCain for “issues” reasons, still I am duly impressed with him as a man. I admire McCain’s gritty determination, his soldierly loyalty, and his independent spirit. I am able to appreciate these qualities because he has been a public figure for quite awhile and I am informed about his impressive characteristics. I would submit that even though Obama is younger and has had less exposure as a public figure, he fails to “impress” only where information about him is lacking--I mean information, not misinformation. It happens that, regarding both Presidential candidates, deleting electioneering mis-information, should enable us to realize how “impressive,” and I would say “admirable” both of these men are--again I say issues aside. As a historian, I have a natural bent for keeping issues and personalities as mutually uncontaminating categories. I would cite Robert E. Lee as an example--a man who committed treason against our country; but because he was a Christian gentleman of tremendous leadership talent and professional skill, who knew how to be in public what he was in private, he is honored now, with the shouting stopped, as a fine American. I think both Obama and McCain are eligible to join Lee’s club. I think Lee was tragically wrong and I won’t vote for McCain, but having read Obama’s book, I was “impressed.” McCain and Obama are impressive individuals, each in his own way. Both easily will be noted by evenhanded historians as “impressive” individuals to be admired by later generations who by then have no partisan connections to defend. I suggest we ignore the slurs and slanders sent flying in both directions at election time and vote according to how we feel on the “issues” and on informed opinion about impressive “persons,” giving both person and issues equal consideration. If it is not a tough call to make, I suspect one of the categories is being disregarded and our vote will only be a reflection of our uncouth prejudices.

Doug Good