Obama has commented that people see in him things that aren't necessarily there. He is often a cipher, an enigma, a man who speaks eloquently but remains a mystery.
He's liberal. He's moderate. He's black. He's not black enough. He's ruthless. He's idealistic. He's pragmatic. He's intelligent. He's naive. He's Chritian. He's Muslim. He's dangerous. He's cautious. He's a limousine liberal. He's a fascist.
My opinion is that he's empathetic and attempts to find common ground, which is often misunderstood. This is a blessing a a curse, just as it was for Bill Clinton.
Helen Fisher called him an empathetic Explorer/Negotiator. I guess the community organizer hasn't really left him yet.
Obama's Personality TypePeople see in Obama what they want to see - that's a blessing and a curse Barack Obama is easy. He is (think cable shows, editorialists, lowly commentators) "the observed of all observers." Further, he is "the glass of fashion and the mould of form," though Michelle (she of the buff biceps) might pose as competition. And what better prose cameo do we have for him as he strides into his first term than "the expectancy and rose of the fair state."
With Mr. Obama, the difficulty is that every performance seems like every other one. He may be talking about bailing out the auto companies, extending a welcoming word to the Muslim world or arguing for a new American health-care regime. His emotional register on all these topics is the same.
His set speeches have a peculiar detached quality about them, a touch of the professional actor's proud ability to find all the right tones and gestures regardless of the quality or content of a given script. They don't so much convince as impress. They beguile rather than reveal. They are dazzlingly - it's almost a paradox - competent.
...What are the most important issues for Mr. Obama? What are the cornerstone beliefs of this new President? What does he have "within which passes show"? He glides from one part of his mammoth agenda to the other, smooth, cool and charming all the way. But his effortless equanimity poses the question: If it were another agenda, a contrary agenda even, would he glide equally smooth, cool and charming over it? I don't think we know. He doesn't offer any real affective clues.
We still can't read Obama 
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