Obama Afghan Plan Shows Style of ‘Big Goals,’ No ‘Bright Lines’

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- When President Barack Obama paired his decision to add 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan with a deadline to begin a withdrawal, he committed himself to a noncommittal strategy.

He provided a window into a leadership style that leaves room to maneuver as he tries to win over a broader audience. While Obama has used speeches to engage audiences on race relations, dealings with the Muslim world and overhauling health care, he’s hedged on specific details of his agenda, inviting criticism from opponents and sometimes supporters.

“It has always struck me that the president believes in big goals but not bright lines,” said Bill Galston, a scholar at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

Obama, 48, said he preferred a so-called public option in health-care legislation even as he remained open to an overhaul without it. He said he preferred that the Federal Reserve be the systemic risk regulator of large financial institutions, while leaving open the prospect of a different approach. And on the Afghanistan war, he offered a date to begin withdrawing troops as he added that the pace and timeline for withdrawal would be determined later.

This style has yielded mixed results. And polls show the public remains skeptical that the steps taken to address the financial crisis have benefited average Americans.

‘Stimulus He Wanted’

“He got the stimulus he wanted in the first place, he’s inching toward getting a health-care reform bill, and he’s almost certainly going to get funding for the war strategy in Afghanistan,” said Vin Weber, 57, a Republican strategist and former congressman from Minnesota. “It’s hard to say that he’s not achieving the main things he’s setting out to choose.”

“The main question is, what toll is it taking on the president politically and on the Democratic Party as a whole?” Weber said.

The duality could be exacting a price. Obama hasn’t been able to reach bipartisan consensus on major issues. At the same time, his support from independents dropped to 44 percent last month, from 62 percent when he took office, according to a Gallup poll published Nov. 24.

“He likes to stand as the judge” and explain both sides of a position, said John Feehery, a Republican strategist. “He’s trying to be the great synthesizer and it’s coming off looking like he’s trying to have it both ways.”

Jobs Forum

Yesterday, Obama invited top executives to the White House for a summit on job creation and questioned why higher profits weren’t translating into hiring. The audience included Walt Disney Co. President Bob Iger, Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt and FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith.

On a public plan to compete with private insurers, which was once a central component of Obama’s health-care push, the president has been “lukewarm,” Galston said.

“He’s made it clear that he’ll sign a bill with it or without it if it complies with his principles,” Galston said.

In the case of Afghanistan, the president’s flexibility is an asset, said Senator John Kerry, 65, a Massachusetts Democrat who heads the Foreign Relations Committee.

“You can’t just say you’re going to predetermine something,” Kerry said. “I think it’s very possible that some conditions might change for the better, sooner, depending on what happens in Pakistan.”

Republicans have praised Obama’s decision to send more troops, while criticizing his proposed timetable. Democrats are concerned about the troop escalation, while comforted there is a date to begin a withdrawal.

‘Vintage Obama’

“It’s vintage Obama,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University in Houston. The president is “pragmatic without alienating too many people.”

In a Gallup poll released yesterday, 58 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of Republicans said they back the Afghanistan plan. Obama has been able to “thread the needle,” said Gallup’s editor-in-chief, Frank Newport.

On the public option, Obama modulated his position.

“Any plan I sign must include an insurance exchange” with “a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest,” Obama said July 18.

Speaking to lawmakers in his Sept. 9 joint address to Congress, Obama called the public option “only one part” of his plan and said, “we should remain open to other ideas.”

‘Very Wise’

Obama has bridged the different interests of the country as opposed to “shoving something at us,” Kerry said. “The president has been very wise to honor the congressional process.”

Even with Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress, Obama has had to operate in the center to woo moderates who, at times, carry more weight at close votes.

On his proposal to overhaul the financial regulatory system, while Obama said the Federal Reserve is “best equipped” to regulate systemic risk at the largest U.S. firms, he didn’t insist the central bank take the leading role.

Obama’s base is looking for stronger commitments. Most recently, the Congressional Black Caucus accused him of doing too little to help minority communities.

“If you keep a centrist course, politically its safer waters to command than playing on the leftward plank,” Brinkley said. “The problem is leadership sometimes is about making a hard decision.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net;