David Brooks: How Obama Seduced Me

An Honest Conservative. "Hallelujah"

Very Interesting Thoughts

I've heard it said that President Barack Obama's tactical game proves that he may be the best student of counter-insurgency strategy among the civilian class. His modus operandi is classic COIN: engage the opposition, peel off the persuadables, marginalize the dead enders, and make it look like the refuseniks missed out on the deal of the century. Then, sit back and watch the public sentiment shift in your direction.
From a political standpoint, it's paid dividends -- the GOP, in the public eye, is the party of "No," of Limbaugh, of Michael Steele's hip-hop jams, of incoherent Tea Parties. Naturally, outside the realm of the purely political, that will only get you so far. Putting the opposition in check doesn't mean that this will have any practical effect on the efficacy of policy.
And none of that means that it will have any alteration on the media terrain, either. Everyone's still playing their old roles. Critics of the President reflexively accuse the press of being "in the tank," as they will forever and ever. The press will fight off the criticism by wildly overcompensating and picking fights with the White House that are increasingly pointless and picayune. And the Obama White House will continue to treat the press as they always have, since the campaign began -- as a largely dispensable annoyance that's no longer the primary vector of "messaging."