Bartlet for President!

Many West Wing fans, regardless of political affiliation, may long for a President like the West Wing's Josiah Bartlet. Martin Sheen's character is well spoken and always has the right response any situation.

However, I'm not referring to the fictional President Bartlet, I'm referring to Martin Sheen acting as President Bartlet because watching presidential hopeful Barack Obama speak, he certainly seems ready to act like a President but he has displayed very little that should make one believe he is ready to perform the duties of the President.

To paraphrase former President Clinton - something I didn't think I would find myself doing - Obama has created a "fairy tale" campaign. The Senator delivers moving speeches with the aid of a teleprompter - not unlike an actor - and talks of change, hope, and possibility. But by staying away from tough issues of the day, and decrying attempts to question his record as negative politics, one must wonder what he's hiding.

Nothing I'm saying is an attempt to suggest that Senator Obama is disingenuous, or intellectually hollow. Quite the contrary, my impression is that he is an intelligent, thoughtful person whose natural charisma and charm are tailor made for a run for president. However, he has designed his campaign to hide very real questions about his experience, and political and professional competency to be President.

One also has to wonder how his rhetoric of change and bipartisanship can ring true when his positions on domestic issues, as stated on his web site, seem to be cut and paste from traditional liberal interest groups and ideals. Whether you look at his desire to roll-back Bush's tax cuts to support more domestic spending, or a union-oriented voting record that gets it 96% right according to the AFL-CIO, Obama is not that different from Hillary Clinton. How can someone change the polarization of American government when he is so far on one side? Do informed votes really believe that Obama the candidate or Obama the President could be immune to the money and influence of lobbyists? If so, you shouldn't!

Maybe I should have titled this, Obama's magic, because so far his campaign is smoke and mirrors. Maybe he has focused on "hope, change, and yes we can" because a close look at his positions on the issues would reveal almost lock-step adherence to Clintonian big government domestic policy. And the biggest substantive difference between him and Hillary Clinton would be his naive foreign-policy.

In choosing between two candidates with virtually identical plans for domestic policy, and war with Iran only seconds away would the majority of Democrats really chose someone who wants to invade an American allies while talking to America's enemies who has stated his unwillingness to use all available options in protecting this country?

Probably not - time to talk about change, inclusiveness, and hope.

Update: Charles Krauthammer offers similar thoughts on how Obama can claim to be a "bipartisan uniter" when he ideology is "unwaveringly" that of a liberal Democrat.