Things seem a little heated with straw men in every direction, so I'm going to provide another quotation and move on. Here it is:
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
Obama seems very good at that- I understand that on at least one occasion he took the Devil's Advocate position and argued against his most capable advisors to ensure that he fully understands the implications before commenting publicly. It also helps advisors to test their own positions rather than becoming ideologues. If there is to be a contrast, perhaps it should be to the sort of intellectually incurious statesman who forms an opinion and doesn't like to be contradicted.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1