Should Obama Worry About Not Being An “American Exceptionalist”?
Politico’s John Harris lists the seven narratives Obama should worry about and do his best to prevent from taking root, and I wanted to flag this one, in which Harris claims that Obama risks not being seen as enough of an “American exceptionalist”:
He sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe
That line belonged to George H.W. Bush, excoriating Democrat Michael Dukakis in 1988. But it highlights a continuing reality: In presidential politics the safe ground has always been to be an American exceptionalist.
Politicians of both parties have embraced the idea that this country — because of its power and/or the hand of Providence — should be a singular force in the world. It would be hugely unwelcome for Obama if the perception took root that he is comfortable with a relative decline in U.S. influence or position in the world.
I’m a fan of Harris’ work, particularly his book on Bill Clinton, but his choice of a line from 1988 to illustrate this point is unintentionally revealing. In general terms, pundits have proven unable, or unwilling, to acknowledge that once-effective national security attacks from the right, such as this, have lost their potency in today’s changed world.
There’s been a general unwillingness to acknowledge how vastly the landscape of national security politics has shifted in the wake of Bush’s catastrophic foreign policy experiments and the electorate’s resounding rejection from 2006 onward of his vision of swaggering unilateralism. Multiple polls have shown that majorities support Obama’s engagement of hostile foreign leaders, and a recent poll found that even a majority of Republicans support Obama’s widely ridiculed bow.
The electorate even supported Obama’s decision to journey to Berlin and promise a new era of engagement, which was widely ridiculed as an “apology.”
Harris notes that Obama should fear a narrative holding that he is “comfortable with a relative decline in U.S. influence,” but this formulation, too, is revealing. Obama in 2008 explicitly rejected the notion that pragmatic global engagement, and the willingness to compromise with other countries in order to tackle common challenges, is tantamount to risking a “decline in U.S. influence.” He won resoundingly. Indeed, he was elected after insisting that it’s in America’s interests to carve out a new type of global leadership role built on a rejection of that world view.
Politics is unpredictable, and if circumstances change dramatically enough, perhaps he will be vulnerable on this score. But for now, it seems like this meme is unlikely to gain anywhere near the traction it once might have.
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“Obama in 2008 explicitly rejected the notion that pragmatic global engagement, and the willingness to compromise with other countries in order to tackle common challenges, is tantamount to risking a “decline in U.S. influence.” He won resoundingly. Indeed, he was elected after insisting that it’s in America’s interests to carve out a new type of global leadership role built on a rejection of that world view.”
Damn Greg – that’s a very well written post indeed.
The problem is a fundamental view of the world difference. The old thinking is stuck back in the 20th century and the end of WWII, when we were the heroes of the entire planet. They just want to stay right there and never leave.
They don’t deal at all with reality as it exists. Thank god most Americans get it. And in a way I’m grateful to the neo-cons for going full out balls to the walls with Bush – Cheney so that AMericans could finally get it.
The neo cons and the straight conservatives, both, are full of nothing but nostalgia for a slice of time in our history when we were truly united in sincere patriotism and in one goal – to defeat the Axis.
THey blew that all to hell with Vietnam and they’ve been trying for a do-over ever since. They seem to think that if they can just undo the loss in Southeast Asia, we will go right back to 1949 and stay there forever.
thanks tena. I agree it’s a holdover of a post wwII view, combined with fears of the cold war and worries about American decline, what with watergate, vietnam and the exploding inner cities in the 1970s
“In general terms, pundits have proven unable, or unwilling, to acknowledge that once-effective national security attacks from the right, such as this, have lost their potency in today’s changed world.”
I agree Greg. In addition there is the fact that the left over neo con jingoistic militaristic approach is starting to lose steam because of economic reality. We are running out of money to fund these military adventures.
Furthermore terrorism is not an activity that is easily managed by the military…police work has been more effective in every terrorist plot that has been foiled.
But from my perspective the battle for world power is no longer going to be defined by aircraft carriers and nukes…it’s a new day and it’s now an economic war we are waging. Chine has gained it’s erormous influence not because of it’s military..but because of it’s ECONOMIC revival! Ditto for India..S. Korea..Ireland…
This is why I am much more thrilled when I hear Obama parroting Thomas Friedman talking about mastering the green technologies than I am about inserting troops somewhere in a foreign feudal society.
If we must continue to crow about American Exceptionalism…could we drop the testosterone laden macho military approach..and become EXCEPTIONALLY educated. Have an exceptional health care system..have exceptional core values as a people..perhaps admiring compassion over greed.
While I’m not in favor of boasting, I am in favor of American Exceptionalism…exceptional in the correct areas.
What always has gotten me about this, Greg, is that it should be a generational thing that would naturally die out with the people hanging on to the past. But somehow they managed to convince some younger people that they knew what they were talking about.
I think that is dying out now, too, finally. I think the cmapus conservative movement may be all but dead. I hope.
Hah! I’m spelling like amk now. “cmapus”
The only thing that is truly exceptional about AMerica is the very thing the neocons and the ratwing hate the most: The Constitution. We were the first with a written guarantee of liberty.
And the ratwing has been working on destroying it since the start.
agreed, ru — a tanking global economy has a way of suddenly getting people to see things in less idealistic terms.
I see this as an another attempt to coerce Obama on Afghan war. There ain’t no more first among equals, thanks to shrub + darth’s fiasco. Regardless of what this moran thinks.
This is the article by Politico I was referring to that yahoo home page had as its headliner this morning which ticked off a number of talking points not based on any sort of facts.
In other words, Obama should beware that Republican talking points based on fiction don’t stick.
“In other words, Obama should beware that Republican talking points based on fiction don’t stick.”
True dat.
@amk Like others I’m grateful that you posted scientific evidence that our typos and mispellings are not too damning…at least our posts are still dcerpabul. What I hate about the English language as I grow older, more senile perhaps..are the words that sound the same but spelled differently mean something different or are gramatacilly incorrect.
And so I am greatful for your earlier post.
If you’re reading the Politico, it’s no one’s fault but your own.
American Exceptional-ism is just another name for HUBRIS.
We are no longer a strong industrial economy, and we have to borrow from China to Finance our Stupid Wars.
Doesn’t that prove that China is more exceptional than we are? They got the oil contracts in Iraq, and now the mining rights in Afghanistan, and we get to pay back the money China lend us, to fight and die in both countries. Exceptional My Arse; unless they mean exceptionally stupid!
Politico gets so caught up in the politics of things they never stop to think if something is right or wrong for this country or even if what they are discussing is truthful.
I suppose their name, Politico, personifies what their intention is. Unfortunately, this mindset has bled into what was once considered news on cable T.V. and is being used to in an attempt to steer the debate of serious issues.
While the right wing and their hacks like politico are still worried about saber rattling, China is quietly winning continents – literally – from Africa to South America by signing big money contracts involving oil, minerals and other industrial requirements. Their manufacturing base is becoming stronger by the day while the right wingers are decimating american entrepreneurship. And the world has become weary of US playing the rogue cop. So, american “exceptionalism” is dead and gone forever.
That whole story was a mish mash of ineffectual attacks to make as the President moves forward with his new war policy and during a moment when he’ll be very vulnerable politically.
The left thinks he caved, the right thinks he’s a political thug so you can do the dithering and the weak politico attack at the same time. And hopefully folks on the left are angry enough to not come out in ‘10 and it hurts the presidents agenda moving forward to ‘12.
rukidding – don’t even get me started on the english language. As I age, it gets worse, not better like wine.
IMHO, America is only as exceptional as the people who inhabit this great country. Seems we’ve fallen a bit short giving the tools to the people who become exceptional, education, economic stability, access to affordable health care, even pride in our accomplishments. Until we focus on improving the lives of our citizens, American exceptionalism will be a thing of the past. Like Tena said earlier the Repubs are trying to bring back the past and the Dems are trying to launch us into the future, with limited success so far.
This Politico article exemplifies Politico’s bias. As other commenters have noted, the article is nothing more than a summation of Republican talking points…
But, I think what makes Politico especially pernicious is that it doesn’t differentiate between fact-based articles and commentary like this article. Their journalists seem to frequently engage in both, without any stated notation of purpose (i.e., no indication that an article is an “analysis” or “commentary”). Thus, opinion-based journalism is given the same weight as more neutral pieces. Due to the frequency with which this problem occurs, it seems like an intentional oversight on Politico’s part; it allows them to push Republican talking points while maintaining the facade of neutrality.
To further drive the assertion of Politico’s bias home, I’ll count how many days it takes for Politico to run a “seven narratives Obama wants you to hear about” article. [My hunch is that they will never run a counter argument piece.]
“.are the words that sound the same but spelled differently mean something different or are gramatacilly incorrect.”
I find that the internet really messes with me when it comes to those words. I think the right word, type the homophone instead, more times than not. Can’t figure out that psychological oddity.
Holy COW! Fox is actually going to show Obama’s address tomorrow and aren’t going to show Do You Think You Can Dance.
I wonder what all the Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Charles Krauthammer fans will watch now that their show has been moved back. Maybe reruns of The Miley Cyrus show will be on?
Here is english at its best (or worst)
The definition of Cricket as explained to a foreigner
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out. When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game! Simple!
BTW, that definition nails the game of cricket 100%.
You don’t have to go back to WW2 to find the past that repubs are looking for–it was very evident in September of 2001.
The public school in my neighborhood put 300 flags around the school grounds. I called the Board of Education office to complain about the dangerous appearance of jingoism and the next thing I know there’s a cop at my door threatening to arrest me. That’s the kind of America they’re looking for.
good post!
i am a little weary of heathcare reform and fixing bush era fuckups will probably take all 8 years. its not pretty.
“You don’t have to go back to WW2 to find the past that repubs are looking for–it was very evident in September of 2001.”
“We need another Pearl Harbor.” George W. Bush on his desire to be a War President.
Human Exceptionalism > American Exceptionalism any day of the week
Should Obama Worry About Not Being An “American Exceptionalist”?
No.
“Human Exceptionalism > American Exceptionalism any day of the week”
O Ethan, how well you said that.
The concept of American Exceptionalism isn’t just about national security, Greg. It’s about being exceptional in a world that needs someone to fill that role in a multitude of ways.
Nice job trying to shift the focus toward national security and away from the fact that Obama doesn’t believe that America is better than most other countries.
And why did you write about this particular subject: because you know that it’s actually an Achilles’s Heel for Obama, not the other way around as you put forth.
Should Obama worry about anything ANYONE writes in Politico?
No.
SASQ.
@Tena….”Can’t figure out that psychological oddity.”
Alas I’m afraid in my case I have, and while I’d love to blame it on the internet I’m afraid it’s simply age. LOL
Homophone…had almost forgotten that word…I remember our elementary school “Beavis and Butthead” reaction when our teacher unveiled that one for us…You’re a homophone.
I called the Board of Education office to complain about the dangerous appearance of jingoism and the next thing I know there’s a cop at my door threatening to arrest me. That’s the kind of America they’re looking for.
Precisely. It isn’t patriotism, it’s nationalism. It doesn’t spring from a healthy love of country, but from insecurity & fear mixed with a dysfunctional need to make sure everyone else is as insecurely tribal as they are.
I always am tempted around here to go up to the door of a house with a giant-a*s*s American flag out front if it’s a post office or an embassy.
Nobody in any other country I’ve been to feels the need to constantly remind themselves of where they are by flying their flag in front of their f**king house.
to go up and ask if it’s a post office or an embassy.
The other weird thing about commenting is that I tend to leave out my verbs. I’m thinking them and I’m thinking I’ve typed them and then they aren’t there. Why the verbs?
Another term for American Exceptionalism: arrogance. Too many Americans seem to think that our national prosperity and good fortune is because of Providence smiling upon us, because we are a Christian nation, because we are smarter than everybody else, or simply because we are so d*mn superior to everybody else in the history of our planet.
Anyone who is familiar with other cultures and with history should realize that our good fortune is due to various bits of geographical, agricultural, climatological, and historical happenstance, not the intervention of a partisan God. The notion that everything that we have ever done is superior to any other nation is simply idiotic hubris that only fools would believe.
If American Exceptionalism is a valid concept, how come our healthcare system fails so miserably by comparison to the systems of nearly any other Western industrial nation and many others as well? We aren’t even in the top 35 or so when you consider longevity, infant mortality, coverage of population, and cost. Add to that that we are the only nation who allows its citizens to go bankrupt and lose their homes due to medical emergencies and the whole exceptionalist argument is beyond untenable, it is simply ridiculous.
Nobody is the best at everything, neither is any nation. Refusing to acknowledge our shortcomings and remaining obstinately unwilling to learn from our friends and allies is not just a bad idea, it is a threat to our long term vitality. History is littered with the wrecks of nations long since past whose pride, arrogance, and hubris made them think that they too were invincible.
One of the complaints the “left” has consistently had with Obama is his adoption of not just right wing policies but right wing framing.
For instance, Obama’s assertion that “the Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden” is only half true. The Taliban offered to turn over Osama bin Laden to a third party country after they were shown evidence that bin Laden was guilty.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5
“Bush rejects Taliban offer to hand Bin Laden over: Taliban demand evidence of Bin Laden’s guilt.”
“[Republican] President George Bush rejected as “non-negotiable” an offer by the Taliban to discuss turning over Osama bin Laden if the United States ended the bombing in Afghanistan.
Returning to the White House after a weekend at Camp David, the president said the bombing would not stop, unless the ruling Taliban “turn [bin Laden] over, turn his cohorts over, turn any hostages they hold over.” He added, “There’s no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he’s guilty”.”
Republican Bush rejected the capture of Osama bin Laden.
Absolutely not, president Obama has done whatever he can.