No fear

Obama is not afraid that strong people will outshine him. Good thing, too, because he's going to need Al Gore for more than just global warming.

Obama is not highly experienced in the ways of Washington, and those ways are tribal, insular, and devastating to outsiders who try to offer something different. In fact, though his relative lack of the taint of Washington attractive, too, I really want for him to avoid the fate that Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton both faced - the hostility of permanent Washington as exemplified by David Broder dishing to Sally Quinn, "He came in here, and he trashed the place, and it's not his place."

So, it's very good news to me to hear that Obama knows he can't be a one-man show. He may be getting some chagrined advice from Gov. Deval Patrick about trying to break into a tribal, insular political society that would really rather not be disturbed.