Gabriel Sherman has written a priceless portrait of David Brooks in the New Republic. Perhaps beguiled by a fancy lunch at "Equinox, a few blocks north of the White House", and charmed by his host, Brooks let it all hang out.

That first encounter is still vivid in Brooks's mind. "I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant," Brooks says, "and I'm thinking, a) he's going to be president and b) he'll be a very good president."

"I divide people into people who talk like us and who don't talk like us," he explains. "Of recent presidents, Clinton could sort of talk like us, but Obama is definitely--you could see him as a New Republic writer. He can do the jurisprudence, he can do the political philosophy, and he can do the politics. I think he's more talented than anyone in my lifetime. I mean, he is pretty dazzling when he walks into a room. So, that's why it's important he doesn't f**k this up."