He's sounding more centrist

After watching President-elect Barack Obama on "60 Minutes" on Sunday, I believe it is easier to feel more confident in the young liberal, with reservations. While some of Obama's campaign rhetoric was particularly worrisome, i.e. spread the wealth around, his appearance Sunday was far more centrist. He praised free markets, rejected a "New New Deal" to remedy economic woes and had nice things to say about three Republican presidents — Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan.

There was something else about listening to Obama, in this instance and others. It seems unlikely he is going to abandon intelligence and knowledge, which includes what he knows about markets and history. He may try to pursue some problematic issues like national health care, but he also understands the limits of government when recession has slashed its revenues.

I'm not sold entirely, but Obama could very well turn out to be more like Bill Clinton or John Kennedy than the more liberal Democrats one can imagine — Lyndon Johnson, George McGovern, Al Gore, John Kerry, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale, etc. If so, he could be quite successful as president.