I think David Brooks really nails what has happened in the Democratic primaries with this editorial. I don’t agree that it necessarily happened in a “moment” at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, but maybe that evening crystalized it, and what he describes has, I believe, been a key dynamic of the campaign:
Clinton had sounded like a traditional executive, as someone who gathers the experts, forges a policy, fights the opposition, bears the burdens of power, negotiates the deal and, in crisis, makes the decision at 3 o’clock in the morning.
But Obama sounded like a cross between a social activist and a flannel-shirted software C.E.O. — as a nonhierarchical, collaborative leader who can inspire autonomous individuals to cooperate for the sake of common concerns.
We’ll see what happens today (I’ll find out when I wake up tomorrow morning).