Voting for Bobo

David Brooks had a column yesterday pondering that certain je ne sais quois about Barack Obama that allegedly prevents Americans from fully embracing him. Toward the end, he throws out this socio-political thought balloon:

If Obama is fully a member of any club ? and perhaps he isn't ? it is the club of smart post-boomer meritocrats. We now have a cohort of rising leaders, Obama's age and younger, who climbed quickly through elite schools and now ascend from job to job. They are conscientious and idealistic while also being coldly clever and self-aware. It's not clear what the rest of America makes of them.

Brooks, for those scoring at home, is one week younger than Barack Obama; climbed quickly through the University of Chicago, and ascended from the Wall Street Journal to the Weekly Standard to the New York Times. This smart post-boomer meritocrat is known for being idealistic, coldly clever, and winningly self-aware. It's not clear what the rest of America thinks of him.