“I cannot believe this guy got as far as he did in politics while remaining such a whinging wussy.”
I think there is a psychological explanation for his behavior:
“You usually hear about the forceful narcissists that come in and control everything with their mind games and manipulations, anger and verbal abuse. There is another category of narcissist that is just as difficult to deal with, but somewhat more difficult to identify. The passive-aggressive narcissist uses an entirely different method to victimize his prey.
The passive-aggressive narcissist is the eternal pessimist. Nothing ever works out for him, everyone from his co-worker to the guy at the bank sabotages his every attempt to achieve his dreams. He experiences difficulty after difficulty. Every time it seems like something is going to work out for him somehow it falls through. It is never his fault but always the fault of others. In fact, he is usually so very good at it that it seems like he is a magnet for bad luck.
....
He will manipulate your emotions to guilt you into doing what he wants. You’ll feel sorry for him, want to protect him, or even feel that you need to fix his situation. He’ll tell you that you are the only one who understands him and the only one in the world that values him.
....
Another tool that the passive-aggressive narcissist uses is procrastination. It is one way of punishing you by keeping you off balance. It is his way of showing you that he’ll do it his way. If you say something he may tell you that he forgot.
Or, he may simply fail to show up for some important event where he promised to be. You can be sure that there will be a great excuse for why he didn’t show. He didn’t have gas money (but he had money for something else), his dog ran away, or some other excuse – he always has one.
....
Stonewalling is when the narcissist makes light of what you’re saying, changes the subject, or walks away. He has decided not to deal with the problem and let it disappear on its own. It is probably the most frustrating thing that a passive aggressive narcissist does.
He’ll tell you to stop harassing him, call you a nag, or whatever but he won’t listen. He may even pretend to listen just to shut you up.”
You can see that in a marriage, but it's probably not why or how Obama got to the White House.
It would certainly make for some interesting cabinet meetings if that was how he got his way, though.
My guess is that he rose so quickly that he wasn't really tested much by adversity.
When the breaks cut against him, rather than with him, you see a very different Barack Obama than people saw when he was on the upswing.