'To Heck and Back' Obama's model for America: Detroit.

I think you're dead on. Here is a blast from the past,

Barack Obama will be America’s first urban president, and it’s likely the decision he made as a young man about where to reside will show up in ways large and small during his White House years.

Let’s be clear: Urban is not meant as a euphemism for black or liberal, although the president-elect is both.

Mr. Obama is a city guy — not a suburban or rural person — somewhat by upbringing, but more by choice as an adult who could live anywhere. As such, he sees the world through a different prism than those presidents who came from more suburban or rural locales.

“He chose an environment where he came face-to-face with issues that people who live in the suburbs don’t know or think about,” says Bill Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer.

Mr. Obama made the choice for an urban lifestyle when he became a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. That decision set him apart from most of his countrymen, only about 20% of whom live in the big cities.
http://blogs.wsj.com/capitaljournal/2008/11/23/barack-obama-america%E2%80%99s-first-urban-president/

That's always been in the back of my mind when thinking about Obama and how America reacts to him. It's not that he's black or white. It's that he's urban. He thinks urban. He thinks in terms of things like rent control, smog limits, renovation permits and parking permits. In the cities they are right on top of each other and anything one person does affects another. In the more rural areas, we really don't care what our neighbors do.

He thinks it's normal for people to ask for permission to do anything. We think he's nuts. He just doesn't get normal economic activity because he has a city mindset where stuff just comes (magically) to the city. Where does milk come from? The milk jug! Where does electricity come from? That little plastic thingy on the wall!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.