In his January 14, 2013 press conference, President Obama was asked whether he is too insular and does not socialize enough.\u00a0 The question and his casual response drew laughs, but partisans in both parties say that it is a serious issue.\u00a0 Ostensibly they say that he is unwilling to do the kind of schmoozing necessary to secure a big bi-partisan deal.\u00a0 It\u2019s possible that what they mean is that they\u2019re not comfortable with someone who is comfortable in his own skin.\u00a0 The president can easily talk with those to whom he is close; he has a wide variety of friends ranging from historians to scientists to artists to street basketball players.\u00a0 He\u2019s easy to friend with because he can poke fun at himself and gently rib those with whom he is socializing.\u00a0 He is comfortable on the irony channel, being able to see a set of circumstances through a prism that gives several different perspectives.<\/p>\n

As President Obama said in the press conference, many Republicans choose to decline his invitations to White House events.\u00a0 He hypothesizes that the Republicans don\u2019t like \u201cthe optics.\u201d\u00a0 In other words they don\u2019t want photos going back home showing them in the company of a Democrat.\u00a0 While he didn\u2019t say it, it\u2019s possible that they don\u2019t like looking stiff and awkward in the presence of the president who is almost always at ease with himself.<\/p>\n

Citing the resistance of Republicans to socialize with him, he says<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are a lot of Republicans at this point that feel that given how much energy has been devoted in some of the media that\u2019s preferred by Republican constituencies to demonize me, that it doesn\u2019t look real good socializing with me.\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He cited former Florida Gov. Charles Crist, who has now left the Republican Party, as an example. Crist\u2019s fortunes as a Republican never recovered from a hug he gave Obama in early 2009. (Crist also embraced Obama\u2019s economic stimulus bill.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Republicans who find that President Obama\u2019s style of socializing is different from their own.<\/p>\n

Neera Tanden, a former aide to both Obama and former President Clinton, complained<\/a> last year to New York magazine that Obama \u201cdoesn\u2019t call anyone\u201d because \u201che\u2019s not close to almost anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s stunning that he\u2019s in politics, because he really doesn\u2019t like people,\u201d Tanden said in a remark for which she later apologized.<\/p>\n

One of the real perks of the job to President Obama is that he gets to work from home.\u00a0 It\u2019s doubtful that he would have run for president had he not been able to do so.\u00a0 He is well aware of how miserable he made his life for himself as well as his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha when he was serving as an Illinois state senator in Springfield.\u00a0\u00a0 Often times he would leave their Hyde Park home before sunrise and take the train to the Capitol.\u00a0 Many nights he didn\u2019t return until 2:00 AM.\u00a0 As president, he is able to have dinner with his family far more frequently than he ever was before.\u00a0 He\u2019s able to host parties for the girls.\u00a0 And in what would be treat for virtually anyone, he\u2019s able to pick and choose with whom he wants to be friend.<\/p>\n

He is very open to others who either (a) liven up a gathering with wisdom and wit, or (b) is willing to make a social occasion a productive work time.\u00a0 That means working out the details of an agreement; not pontificating just to be heard.<\/p>\n

There is so much that we can all learn from President Obama.\u00a0 His social skills may be near the top of the list.\u00a0 He is truly a politician who is a human being first.\u00a0 If we watch him socialize, or watch him choose not to socialize, we can learn a great deal about leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his January 14, 2013 press conference, President Obama was asked whether he is too insular and does not socialize enough.\u00a0 The question and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[273,476,202],"tags":[425,1770,1867],"yoast_head":"\n