A news item about Obama's chief of staff states, "Emanuel is also widely seen as a centrist and a pragmatist, and his selection is a sign Obama may lean toward the middle on key policy issues."

How does one lean in any direction if he's in the middle?

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Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
A news item about Obama's chief of staff states, "Emanuel is also widely seen as a centrist and a pragmatist, and his selection is a sign Obama may lean toward the middle on key policy issues."

How does one lean in any direction if he's in the middle?

Well, I agree, Asa! I gather that this writer pictures Obama as standing over toward the 1" end of the ruler, but listing markedly toward the 6" line...

Meanwhile, Obama's choice of a pragmatic, centrist chief of staff seems right in line with interviews I've read of former colleagues and students of Obama. Rather than a left-wing idealist as painted by media pundits, those who knew him uniformly described him as a pragmatic, solutions-oriented intellectual.

quote:

Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
A news item about Obama's chief of staff states, "Emanuel is also widely seen as a centrist and a pragmatist, and his selection is a sign Obama may lean toward the middle on key policy issues."

How does one lean in any direction if he's in the middle?

Selecting Emanuel means that Obama might lean toward the middle. It makes sense to me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: goofy,

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How does one lean in any direction if he's in the middle?

With the extreme right and left characterization (nothing to do with reality of course) of politics in America, one is assumed to be near one of the extremes rather than in the middle.

If Emanuel and Obama are centrists, they're already in the middle. If you folks say it makes sense, fine, but it seems nutty to me!

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one is assumed to be near one of the extremes rather than in the middle

That's the kind of logic that got us in trouble before.

But, Asa, I think people (i.e. Republicans) have thought Obama was not a centrist, but an extreme towards-the-left liberal. Jonah Goldberg, for example, considers him "arguably the most liberal presidential nominee in American history" (Of course, I see Jonah as arguably the most conservative columnist in American history). Therefore, Obama's selection shows that he may lean further toward the middle on key policy issues than Republicans had thought.

I think the term "centrist" is interesting, though. I've seen it used several times since the election, and I don't remember seeing it used that much in the past.