Obama's Elegant Optimism

There is a seeming contradiction at the heart of Obama's message. On one hand, he is all about hope, freshness, and audacity. On the other hand, he is an incrementalist, rarely taking a radical, contrarian stance. His foreign policy is more realist than idealist.

To me, the way to square this circle is to realize that he is the embodiment of a new kind of elegant, collective optimism.

Barack Obama didn't invent optimism. But his form of optimism is very different from the optimism that came before him. While he believes that people and institutions can change, he doesn't necessarily think that he, by sheer force of being optimistic, can change them.

Consider these lines from his Cairo speech yesterday:

I know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years, and much of this controversy is connected to the war in Iraq. So let me be clear: no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.

That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people. Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose.

He isn't saying that he's confident in his ability to make things better. He's expressing a confidence that people throughout the world yearn to be free, and that the force of that collective desire -- not the force of his own desire, or the force of arms -- will free them.

His optimism is realistic. It's not based on cover ups or cheerleading. The courage we get from Obama is that he's willing to go near the fire of truth and trust that he won't get burned. Watching that, the hope is that we will be willing to get close to the fire as well:

No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors.

He's not an optimist of the Thomas Friedman variety. That kind of optimism is faith-based. Those kinds of optimists are always telling you how optimistic they are. They are salesman who believe that their cheery demeanor can create change. They seem to believe that most moments in history are decided by the man who wants to charge the hill, take on the fight or just say "screw it" and plunge into the tussle outgunned but not outgrinned. The default is fighting, and life is all about getting bruises and getting back up with a smile on your face. For these optimists, wars and summits aren't real. Values other than fight vs. flight are rarely considered. Rather, historical moments are like movies, and the important thing is to ask what your cool, feisty character would do in any given situation.

Obama's form of optimism is more elegant than the cruder, earlier form. He's not the ever-smiling carnival barker. He isn't optimistic in his ability to change things, or in a single individual cowboy's power to make things right. He's not obsessed with the good old days when two wise men meeting in the oval office and bargaining over people's lives could make it all better.

Rather, he is optimistic because he thinks that thousands of individuals, all working freely and in concert, can change the world. Obama's Cairo speech marked the end of the President as the tireless CEO going around the world and desperately boosting America and convincing the world how awesome we are. Like most great leaders, the President is instead going around the world telling his audience how great they can be. If the United States can have a small part in their story, that's a role we're eager to play.