The Great Communicator II

Ronald Reagan was called “The Great Communicator” for his ability to connect with voters. Now, Barack Obama is showing he has that same ability. Just after Election Day, William Kristol wrote in the New York Times that it wasn’t so much the election results that concerned him about the future of the Republican party, but it was Obama’s ability to connect with voters when he discussed his family and the transition to Washington that got him alarmed. Now, after Sunday evenings “60 Minutes” interview, Kristol may want to turn that alarm into outright panic.

Obama was masterful in his interview tonight, mixing the personal with the political in a seamless fashion. How many couples could see something in their own relationship when watching the Obamas interact? Plenty. How many parents shared the same concerns as the incoming First Family. Lots. President-Elect Obama appeared during most of the interview to be a suburban father with a busy day job, not the high and mighty leader of the free world. He reflected somberly on becoming the first African-American president of the country, and with ease shifted to his inability to talk a walk or go out and get a haircut.

“There was a sense of emotion that I could see in people’s faces and — and in my mother-in-law’s face. You know, I mean, you — you think about Michelle’s mom, who grew up — on the west and south sides of Chicago. Who worked so hard to help Michelle get to where she is, her brother to — be successful. She was sitting next to me, actually, as we were watching returns. And she’s like my grandmother was, sort of a no-fuss type of person. And suddenly she just kind of reached out and she started holding my hand, you know. Kind of squeezing it. And you had this sense of, well, what’s she thinking? For a black woman who grew up in the 50s, you know, in a segregated Chicago, to watch her daughter become first lady of the United States. I think there was that sense across the country. And not unique to African-Americans.”

He also reflected on the “loss of anonymity” that comes along with his new title.

“I can’t go to my old barber shop now. I’ve gotta have my barber come to some undisclosed location to cut my hair,” Mr. Obama said. “You know, that — the small routines of life — that keep you connected I think … some of those are being lost. One of the challenges I think that we’re going to be wrestling with is how to stay pretty normal.”