Yesterday, news reports revealed that Barack Obama has begun the process of creating a presidential transition team to ensure that he hits the ground running after his inauguration. As expected, the McCain campaign and its conservative allies are using this as further evidence that Obama is arrogant and disturbingly presumptuous regarding his current presidential bid. While there’s plenty of reason to criticize Barack Obama, this isn’t one of them.
To be sure, there have been moments when the Obama campaign has gone just a bit too far. For example, Obama’s decision to give speeches in front of a podium bearing a mock presidential seal was both campy and cocky. His campaign’s request to deliver a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate --in an apparent attempt to follow the historic addresses of Reagan and Kennedy-- represented one of the few moments where his rock star swagger didn’t seem effortless.
That said, the recent transition team controversy is much ado about nothing.
First, the significance of Obama’s move has been wildly overstated. Contrary to what networks like Fox News have reported, the campaign has not moved into “full transition mode.” Such language implies that he has already written his acceptance speech and begun ordering drapes. In truth, Obama has merely begun to construct a small team of people to begin thinking through the transition process. Given the constant attacks on his experience, some of which are merited, why would this not be viewed as a positive?
The other unfair critique is that Obama’s move is historically unprecedented. Immediately after news of the transition team was released, commentators ignored all available facts and suggested that Obama was the first presidential candidate to build a transition team before winning the election. While this makes for a sexy news story, it is flatly contradicted by the fact that George W. Bush did the same thing in 2000. In fact, when asked about the move, Bush and executive transition director Clay Johnson argued that it “would be irresponsible not to do so.” In addition to Bush, every president since Jimmy Carter has done the same thing. In all likelihood, the McCain campaign is surreptitiously replicating the very same process.
Is this an example of a restless media avoiding the facts and turning ordinary events into a spectacle? Given, the insatiable nature of the 24-hour cable news monster, this is a strong possibility. Another factor, however, is the bubbling media narrative of Barack Obama as both arrogant and aloof. While some of his aforementioned campaign slipups have contributed to this idea, there seems to be an ever-present double standard with regard to Obama’s political maneuvers.
To quote Mos Def, “If white boys doing it well, it’s success / when I start doing it well it’s suspect.”
