Which Obama will we see?

I don't think Barack Obama is a closet radical, I think he's a shrewd politician who knew how to use people on his way up -- perhaps the most intelligent and calculating politician to occupy the Oval Office since Richard Nixon, for whatever that might be worth. But his resume is thin and he has downplayed his associations with Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers and their ilk, so it's legitimate to wonder how he will operate in office. Here's the Register's editorial from today asking the question. Obviously, given his background and his party it would be unrealistic to expect him to govern as a laissez-faire free marketeer, but he did campaign as a pragmatic centrist and we hoped that's the way he will govern. In some sense his vagueness about what "change we can believe in meant during the campaign, which drove some of us inclined to be wonkish crazy, gives him great flexibility once he assumes office. It will be fascinating to see how he operates. He's disciplined and his campaign indicated some organizational skills, but the federal government is a more unruly beast.