Rolling Stone on Barack Obama

Today, I was tossing out some old magazines and came across an issue of Rolling Stone that featured Bush as the worst president ever. Then later this afternoon I came across a long Barack Obama article by way of The Huffington Post and it was in the Rolling Stone—the contrast between the two articles couldn't be greater; so here's an excerpt from Ben Wallace-Wells profile on Barack Obama:

...Washington has plenty of wonks, and Obama wasn't going to distinguish himself through diligence alone. He came to the Capitol equipped with his own, swelling celebrity; the Senate was not a perfect fit. Beyond his considerable charm, Obama can be righteous and cocky. He came to Washington pushing the hope that politics could be better -- but now he can give the impression that he'd rather be just about anywhere other than in Washington. "It can be incredibly frustrating," he tells me. "The maneuverings, the chicanery, the smallness of politics here." Listening to a bloviating colleague at his first meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama slipped a three-word note to a member of his staff: "Shoot. Me. Now." On a recent day, as Obama made his way through the Capitol's corridors, his fellow senators seemed like good-natured sportscasters, jolly and easy with their power, bantering about the fortunes of baseball teams in their home states. . Obama is aloof and quiet. He prefers to listen, attentive as a rector, not quite of this world, silently measuring it. "The typical politician pushes himself on people to get them to pay attention," says Frank Luntz, the Republican campaign strategist. "Obama is quieter. He doesn't push -- he has a laid-back feel that pulls you in. That is so rare."

It's a great article but I notice that the article paints Barack Obama as very liberal, though he clearly has the ability to reach across the aisle. Senator Obama is a force to be reckoned with and sometimes real leadership trumps all other issues, but it's worth pointing out early that it may be easy for the Republicans and the media to paint Barack Obama as 'too liberal' in the general election. On the other hand, although John Kerry received 9 million more votes than Al Gore, some argue that the Democrats got too cautious by picking Kerry. Conclusion: Barack Obama will stay in the top three but the Democrats should keep all options open.