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Sadly, Obama

By Jeffrey Harrison

Clearly, whether ingrained or affected, Obama is an elitist. To be sure he is the candidate of the elitists. This has been no secret but the Times article (July 30) about his time as a law professor reveals things that perhaps only a law professor can appreciate. For example,"He was also an enigmatic one, often leaving fellow faculty members guessing about his precise views." Or this quote from Richard Epstein, "?His entire life, as best I can tell, is one in which he?s always been a thoughtful listener and questioner, but he?s never stepped up to the plate and taken full swings.?

Another excerpt, "Nor could his views be gleaned from scholarship; Mr. Obama has never published any. He was too busy, but also, Mr. Epstein believes, he was unwilling to put his name to anything that could haunt him politically, as Ms. Guinier?s writings had hurt her."

Sound familiar? Yes clearly Obama knew how to play the game. He was careful not to extend himself or to offend anyone even if it means passing on chances to do some good. What the Times did not say is that Obama was, in fact, the model of the type of person most sought by law school hiring committees.

There is one important distinction between Obama and elitist law professors. Even if he was totally calculating he at least had an important goal in mind. For the day to day careful law professor who is similarly careful the ends are hardly as lofty.

I will vote for Obama - don't even know who is on Socialist Workers' Party ticket -- but I don't like it.

Full post as published by Class Bias in Higher Education on July 31, 2008 (boomark / email).