Elvin Lim is Assistant Professor of Government at Wesleyan University and author of The Anti-intellectual Presidency, which draws on interviews with more than 40 presidential speechwriters to investigate this relentless qualitative decline, over the course of 200 years, in our presidents’ ability to communicate with the public. He also blogs at www.elvinlim.com. In the article below he reflects on change in Obama’s administration. Read his previous OUPblogs here.
Short of revolution in which blood is spilt and heads roll, change is a rare thing in the evolution of civilization. American presidents have tried to mimic change rhetorically - the New Freedom, the New Deal, the New Frontier, the New World Order - but the truth is the whole point of a democratic system of election is to allow for peaceful change, which is to say that elections are designed to preserve continuity amidst change, which is to say that in the end we value continuity more than we do change. And so President-elect Barack Obama has correctly intoned that the nation has only one president at a time, indicating his resistance to taking responsibility when he has no authority, while also making a subtler point that while the torch passes and the persons change, it is the torch that matters.
We are allowed to dream dreams of change in a campaign, but when government starts, the flights of rhetorical fancy and fantasy must end. So we really shouldn’t be surprised that President-Elect Obama’s first crop of nominations are all veterans from the last Democratic administration. Whereas the Republicans have built up a cadre of accomplished officials and advisors having won 7 out of the last 11 presidential elections, Obama has no such luxury. He needs knowledgeable people as well as experienced politicos to get any job done. His ends may be different, but Obama’s means will likely be strikingly similar to the men who have come before him. In every action since he was elected, Obama has proved Hillary Clinton right that you need experience to bring about change.
Campaigns may all be run on the message of change, but government is about continuity and Obama should not allow the symbolism of his campaign to interfere with the staffing of his administration. Nothing - short of revolution and a constitutional convention - starts on a clean slate. Washington is what it is, and he who presumes to be able to sweep in and replace the reality of sticky institutions and entrenched interests without the paradoxical aid of these institutions or interests has allowed the victory of an election to get to his head.
Having sounded the clarion call for change all year, the president-elects appears to be bracing for the trench-warfare ahead by surrounding himself with a team of capable rivals. Ours is a stubborn political system rigged against change - from horizontal to vertical centralization - that even united party control of government may not surmount. Individual by individual, interest by interest, institution by institution, nation by nation, President-elect Barack Obama will have to bring about change that we believed in.
I just posted 7 things after reading yours. That TE opening line is absolutely beautiful (I had forgotten how much so).
I still have a piece of pencil lead in my left thumb from when I fell at about age 7!
Maybe we were DESTINED to be writers - the curse of the pencil lead!!
And I printed out that recipe!
Barbara
That's so funny. I pretended to have a crush on The Bay City Rollers, too. Though, how can you resist this one?
Great seven things. Can't say which one I like the best, #1 or #7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C50F-qRQKqw
oops. I forgot the link.
Oh, hipwritermama, did you dress in plaid on Halloween, too? People thought I was a hobo. Thanks for the video---now that song's stuck in my head. Again.
Barbara, you will LOVE that recipe. The secret, of course, is splurging on really good beef. (Vegetarians, is there such a thing as high-grade tofu?) Anyway, I've never made the spicy crab pasta that comes with it---I just make pasta with marinara sauce and let the tenderloin take center stage.
These are great things, Sara. I have a mark from a pen on my left thigh that I made once, quite by accident. I think your pencil lead story is more interesting.
I love Aretha Franklin and in my dreams, I have her voice. (In her nightmares, I wonder if she ever has mine?) And how right you are about that first sentence of Tuck Everlasting, which is one of my all-time favorite books.
Mary, I never thought about me being in Aretha's nightmares. Yikes! I'm so sorry, Aretha, honey.
I love #7. You've made me want to re-read that novel.
Jules, 7-Imp
Number 5. I recently told a friend how unpicky I am about food. I wrote, "I like everything from Cheetoes to oysters on the half shell. Just don't feed me Brussels Sprouts." Speaking of inspirational pies, are you watching Pushing Daisies, with Ned the Piemaker, Chuck (Charlotte) his girlfriend, Olive Snook, the waitress, et. al? It's quirky and fun! BTW, you did get Aretha's legs.
Sister Bear! Yes, I love Pushing Daisies. It's got great dialogue, pie, true love, AND fun fashion...what more could you want?
These are great! Bees and eels--very random. I'm totally with you on #5, though! :)
Love these lines you quoted. And I have pencil lead in my left palm--eighth grade, I was walking down the class aisle and I tapped a couple friends' desks, and one had a pencil sticking up!