Remembering Barack

Does anyone remember Barack Obama, the guy who used to be the candidate of change?

...I've sometimes wondered in recent months: Whatever happened to that Obama, to that enemy of excessive partisanship and evangelist of national unity?

He was a uniter, not a divider.

"Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes."

He was going to change the way Washington does business.

Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America."

He was going to cut through the ugliness, reach into the heart of America, tapping into such innate power that the forces of evil would be thrown to the side.

"We worship an awesome God in the blue states," Obama thundered. "And yes," he added, "we've got some gay friends in the red states."

That was the concept he laid out in his 2004 convention speech, the template for his candidacy that would begin in earnest just 2 years later.

...those lines stood out for a reason: They articulated a deep yearning, held by many Americans of varying beliefs, for less polarization and division. This theme was precisely what catapulted Obama to the front rank of Democratic politicians.

Now we're left with Barack Obama - Business As Usual. What happened?

The question is laid out by Michael Tomasky, writing in the Washington Post, who fails to offer a solid anwer, perhaps because, it seems, he likes Barack too much to state the obvious, loud and clear.

The guy who was going to change the way business is done in Washington was a character developed by Barack to win the nomination. The deep yearning for the end to partisanship isn't so deep or so wide. The fantasy he offered was a good angle for winning the nomination, but with the nomination in hand, Barack has shed his sheep's clothing.

I recently asked David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, what became of post-partisanship. "Oh, I think he still speaks about it, and I'm sure it'll be a theme at our convention," Axelrod told me.

Now, the concept of the Obama campaign is, "This is the year in which a Democrat can't lose, and we're not going to blow it. We'll do anything to win."