The Exquisite Dilemma of Being Obama

When Oprah Winfrey has declared you "more than a politician," when you've had dinner with Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg and received 300 speaking invitations a week, things are going well for you as a freshman Senator. So you might forgive Barack Obama for being cautious in his first year on Capitol Hill. Why should he risk blemishing an almost perfect public persona that could help him win the presidency one day? But last month Obama finally found his cause: he wanted to lead Democrats in the push for lobbying and ethics reform. The issue seemed perfect for him. It's high profile because of the Jack Abramoff scandal. And it plays to his cultivated image as a politician above party ideology. Unlike gay marriage or abortion, ethics reform is not polarizing; no one is in favor of corrupt legislators.

Senate Democratic leaders were happy to have Obama take the baton, but didn't want the Illinois Senator to indulge in his usual pox-on-both-their-houses political style, whereby he lectures Democrats and Republicans alike for being divided and looks for a bipartisan solution. Democrats wanted to attack the G.O.P. over the excesses of lobbyist and admitted felon Abramoff, a Republican, and get a law passed only on their terms. So Obama tried to split the difference. He showed up at a bipartisan meeting on lobbying reform with Republican Senator John McCain but later sent McCain a letter saying he would work on the Democrats' version of a reform bill, as Democratic leaders desired, rather than McCain's. In an angry, sarcastic letter in reply, McCain blasted Obama last week for his "disingenuousness" and "self-interested partisan posturing." "I concluded your professed concern for the institution [of Congress] and the public interest was genuine and admirable," McCain wrote. "Thank you for disabusing me of such notions."

The public scolding illustrated perfectly the exquisite dilemma of being Obama: How do you remain as popular as you are, preaching a message of unity, while also making some of the tough partisan decisions that define you as a politician and ultimately help advance your career? Obama's debut on the national stage, his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, mesmerized people because he seemed to speak for almost everyone, black and white, liberal and conservative, immigrant and native born. But in the Senate, where voting means you have to take sides, Obama has found that preserving his Everyman appeal is almost impossible.

While Obama has drawn praise from Democrats and Republicans for his intellect and diligence, he's struggling to please all those who expect something from him: liberals want the formerly feisty antiwar candidate to be the standard bearer for their causes, Democrats in Washington want him to take on Bush, African Americans want the only black Senator to speak out on racial issues, and moderates and Republicans like McCain want to see Obama's bipartisan side. It's a complicated balance, particularly for a man who would need the support of all those disparate groups to become President--a possibility he already has his eye on. "People have enormous expectations of him," says David Axelrod, one of Obama's top advisers. "And to live up to them is difficult. He's just a person, and the minute you start casting votes, you make some people happy and some people unhappy."

NAVIGATING THE SENATE