Obama Needs to Work on 'Big Idea'

Despite Barack Obama’s remarkable policy consistency, he "remains a puzzle to many voters," writes Dorothy Wickenden in the New Yorker. It's time to articulate a governing philosophy, she argues: “He has proved his steadiness of purpose without clearly defining his priorities.What, above all, does he intend to accomplish if he is elected President?"

He’s at his best in his books, coming across as “something of a square: someone who doesn’t have to strain to talk about ‘values,’ God, and family.” He should amp up telling Americans the hardest, most fundamental truths, Wickenden concludes: “A little more audacity will yield a lot more hope.” (More Barack Obama stories.)