He listens to his advisors. (That's refreshing.)

Never really noticed, but local Democrats tend to vote Republican in national elections and, often, vice versa. From what I've seen around the Internet, a lot of people seem to vote against whichever party they feel is insulting them the most but -- lately -- I'm seeing a lot of cracks forming in the so-called "culture wars". He's not only putting a stop to the subliminal messages of the National Republican party, but slowly correcting every, single mistake the National Democratic party has made since 1972.

Is that cynical populism or... genuine statesmanship?

Edit: Whoops. Question makes more sense now.

I think it's genuine, thoughtful, conscientious statesmanship wearing a populist's hat.

Well said.