Advice for Obama

You have to laugh. Dan Gerstein, who describes himself as a Democratic strategist, begins his Wall Street Journal opinion piece “Obama Should Just Be Himself” by rejecting the off-broadway play’s pitch, “I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.” Gerstein suggests Obama doesn’t have to change at all to win.

Gerstein then tells Obama to advocate education reform, saying, “No challenge is more consequential for our country than closing the achievement gap in our urban schools and raising the competitiveness of our workforce. And no special interest has done more to stand in the way of change in our public schools than the teachers unions that dominate Democratic politics.” Gerstein wants Obama to “embrace [the] aggressively pro-innovation set of principles" of Gerstein's client, Democrats for Education Reform.

As we saw earlier, Obama has yet to favor education reforms that union members see as sticks, not carrots. “You’re Perfect, Now Change.”