Shamelessly engage in humblebrag
CBS Anchor Charlie Rose set up a predictable Kobayashi Maru, when he asked President Obama what he considered his biggest mistake during the first term. This is now such a predictable question that politicians should be prepared how to answer this no win question. Deny there were mistakes and you appear unrealistically unaware. Admit mistakes and you provide video for your opponent's attack ads. Worse, admit problems but blame them on others and you give the impression of someone evading accountability.
I believe the first time this question was sprung on a President was during a Presidential News Conference in April 2004 with President George W. Bush. It was an election year. Bush clearly did not anticipate the question and for forty-three seconds he appeared honestly at a loss for thoughts and words. While he admitted - in the abstract - that he was sure he had made mistakes, he declared that he couldn't think of one right at that moment. It was the fact he couldn't name one specific mistake that created headlines.
Later, President Bush was more prepared when asked this question two years later. He immediately identified his earlier remark "Bring it on" when publicly talking about the Iraqi terrorist insurgents.
It should then have come as now surprise to President Obama when Charlie Rose asked this same question. President Obama seemed better prepared.
When I think about what we’ve done well and what we haven’t done well,” the president said, “the mistake of my first term – couple of years – was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that’s important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times.
It’s funny – when I ran, everybody said, well he can give a good speech but can he actually manage the job? And in my first two years, I think the notion was, ‘Well, he’s been juggling and managing a lot of stuff, but where’s the story that tells us where he’s going?’ And I think that was a legitimate criticism.'"
Whether it was politically best choice to identify his inability to tell a story as his greatest mistake, the response perfectly fits the art of humblebrag. Oliver Burkeman explains, a humblebrag is the art of answering in away that makes you look pretty darn fantastic. "What is my biggest fault," a job seeker says. "It must be that I work too hard." Obama declares his policies and their implementation as spot on and flawless, but then places the blame on his inability to "tell a story." The reaction to this searing self-confessional makes clear that the answer needs to be refined to not trivialize the proffered mistake.
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