"Obama kept agreeing with him". A Democratic jujitsu tutorial [View All]

[me b zola]

Some of the pundits keep bringing up that when Obama agreed with a point that McCain made, he would say so before explaining where he differed and why. This is being brought up as a weakness, but those grasshoppers do not possess the wisdom of Democratic jujitsu.

To me this goes straight to Obama's ability to restore our standing in the world and being able to achieve consensus here at home. When negotiating with someone who holds different views, do you begin by telling your opponent that you have absolutely nothing in common with them, or do you begin negotiations by acknowledging what you have in common? Now a cowboy who is afraid of horses--or a bully--would choose the former rather than the latter, but we know how that party ends. A real leader would seek the latter, to make it easier for your opponent to want to reach a consensus with you.

Barack Obama is not only a leader, he is the one leader that can navigate us through these perilous times.