The great thing about Obama is that no one, not even his worst enemies, can claim he isn't a LEADER.

[Bicoastal]

It isn't just his Harvard law degree or his experience teaching constitutional law. There's just something about him that radiates intelligence and, to a greater extent, competence. Bush used big words like he didn't know what they really meant--when Obama talks, he clearly understands every word that comes out his own mouth, and in politics, that's a rare and valuable skill. This is why the "empty suit" shtick never stuck: he doesn't act like one. Instead, he behaves like someone whom the REAL empty suits try to copy and fail.

I am confident that any dramatic actions taken by the White House in the next 4 years will be spearheaded by Obama and not his advisors and cronies. He may sometimes act too smart for his own good: if and when errors are committed, he will take credit for them, like the way he took credit for the few errors that were made during his 2008 campaign. But make no mistake, the era of the Leader-as-Bumbling-Fool Paradigm, which allowed cockroaches like Cheney and Rove to take over, is almost done.

Starting next week, get ready for a whole different ball game.

[firedupdem]

1. And I cannot wait!

My husband always says "he's comfortable in his skin." That's exactly what it is.

[Historic NY]

2. Me too its refreshing to have a President who can speak.

[TTUBatfan2008]

3. You know how sad that is?

That should be a quality that we should take for granted in our Presidents. It shouldn't even be an issue.

[kestrel91316]

4. He reminds me an awful lot of my brother-in-law, who is a

nuclear pharmacist - very intelligent, calm, self-assured but never cocky, steady as a rock, good involved parent.

Hey, Tim, that's YOU I'm talking about!

[yurbud]

5. Obama is already acting like he's president before he starts; Bush was in office a couple of months

before anyone noticed he was there.