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Here’s some food for thought by way of David Ignatius.

…the larger point is that we truly have a leader who keeps doing the wise thing on policy (assuming you agree with him) but the dumb thing on politics.

Politicians often like to brag about how they aren’t really political animals but public servants. It’s almost a political cliche, to accompany a craven decision with the statement: “I’m not doing this to win votes, but because it’s the right thing to do.”

But Obama is different. He truly doesn’t seem to relish politics, in the raw, mix-it-up sense. Most of all, he isn’t needy for public attention in the way our most neurotic and gifted politicians have been — walking outpatients such as Richard Nixon or Lyndon Johnson or Bill Clinton. He doesn’t like red-hot; he likes cool and deliberative.

[...]

Maybe Obama, the anti-politician, really doesn’t care if he gets reelected, so long as he’s doing what he thinks is right. Somehow, I can’t imagine this breakthrough president stepping aside to write law-review articles. But to stand a chance in 2012, he’s going to need someone to light a fire under him, someone who can play politics fiercely — and also can bring in some new voters.

Surely it’s obvious that I am describing Obama’s second-term masterstroke: Vice President Hillary Rodham Clinton.

What do you think?

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