The two faces of Obama

(Hat tips: Dennis Prager, Dean Barnett)

It's interesting to read a fan of Barack Obama listing what Obama's "thrown under the truck" in the course of his campaign:

From time to time, he threw his voting power under the truck.

Then the political costs of Rev. Wright escalated and Fast Eddie Obama threw Wright under the truck.

[P]rimary candidates don’t do tough votes, so Fast Eddie Obama threw the workhorse duties under the truck.

John McCain offered to have a series of extended town-hall meetings around the country. But favored candidates don’t go in for unscripted free-range conversations. Fast Eddie Obama threw the new-politics mantra under the truck.

Thursday, at the first breath of political inconvenience, Fast Eddie Obama threw public financing under the truck.

How is all this admirable?

I have to admit, I’m ambivalent watching all this. On the one hand, Obama did sell out the primary cause of his professional life, all for a tiny political advantage. If he’ll sell that out, what won’t he sell out? On the other hand, global affairs ain’t beanbag. If we’re going to have a president who is going to go toe to toe with the likes of Vladimir Putin, maybe it is better that he should have a ruthlessly opportunist Fast Eddie Obama lurking inside.

All I know for sure is that this guy is no liberal goo-goo. Republicans keep calling him naïve. But naïve is the last word I’d use to describe Barack Obama. He’s the most effectively political creature we’ve seen in decades. Even Bill Clinton wasn’t smart enough to succeed in politics by pretending to renounce politics.

I can understand the theory here. It's the same theory that says when shopping for a lawyer to represent you in a divorce, you talk to your divorced friends and find out which lawyer screwed them over the worst, and then get that lawyer on your side.

Barack Obama may well be the most effective weapon available in the battlefield of international politics. My only question is, in what direction will he be pointed?