Reason Writers Around Town
Over at the Guardian, David Weigel argues that the "cult of Obama" doesn't signify anything bad for the Democrats—it just means they're finally getting on the presidential worship train.
Comments to "Reason Writers Around Town":
stephen the goldberger | February 26, 2008, 5:00pm | #
That was a great article. Excellent commentary.Although I am intrigued as to what Obama's campaign will evolve into if he becomes the clear front runner, which he was in N.H. and blew it. We've only seen one real side of Obama's campaign (idealist challenger) and I am curious if it can really adapt to different situations. The general will be very interesting if Obama's the nominee.
Which I think gets to one of the major issues regarding the media's (potentially soft) coverage of Obama, which is that they think he's interesting and exciting. And a good story is what the media really cares about above all else.
NotThatDavid | February 26, 2008, 5:11pm | #
It doesn't mean anything bad electorally, sure, but isn't hero-worship (or just outright worship) of politicians a bad thing on its own?Episiarch | February 26, 2008, 5:16pm | #
Well, if Obama turns out to be the empty suit that many assume he is, it could be very bad for the Democrats.Hero-worship is bad enough, but hero-worship of an emperor with no clothes is very...disillusioning.
GILMORE | February 26, 2008, 5:20pm | #
god, will people please quit with the "empty suit" line. It's getting fucking dull. At least come up with something new.Or more specific even. Arent ALL politicians empty suits, by definition?
ok, right, except for (start porn music)...Ron Paul.
Which may explain why he hasnt won dick.
If Obama gets elected President, I predict a huge shift back to a Republican congress in 2010. I just fear the ~2 years leading to that. Undoing socialism is very difficult both politically and practically.
empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit empty suit
The GOP | February 26, 2008, 5:36pm | #
Hero-worship is bad enough, but hero-worship of an emperor with no clothes is very...disillusioning.You don't need to remind us of that.
Which is he, an empty suit, or an emperor with no clothes? Can't be both.
sv | February 26, 2008, 5:52pm | #
he's not even close to being a socialist, not even when he panders leftward to the unions (which just makes him a normal political operator, something in this case to sigh with relief about). get a grip."Which is he, an empty suit, or an emperor with no clothes? Can't be both."
HA! his empty suit walks away from him, winning hearts and votes with its inspiring rhetoric and leaving him behind, exposed and unaware.
Bingo | February 26, 2008, 5:56pm | #
Vell, Obama's just zis guy, you know?| February 26, 2008, 5:56pm | #
Shilling for Obama? From Weigel?! Well I never.Neoconservative [...] whose ideology has the most to lose from an Obama triumph
Because a marginal difference in the way the continuing occupations and coming further invasions in the Middle East will be talked about - and the near total absence of leftist protest against them once their Dear Leader is in charge of them - is a deadly threat to the ideology of all the powerful states in human history. Sure.
And listen, I know it doesn't come naturally to you, but in libertarian language, politicians never unironically "triumph." I understand that thoughts of Dear Leader give you powerful feelings that send you fumbling through the thesaurus with an id full of fascist hyperbole, but you're a professional fake libertarian. Shape the hell up.
ce | February 26, 2008, 5:57pm | #
It's going to be a dull general election. Both Obama and McCain have speechifying talent but not much in the way of ideas.J sub D | February 26, 2008, 6:00pm | #
...that send you fumbling through the thesaurus with an id full of fascist hyperbole, but you're a professional fake libertarian.And here I was looking for an excuse, Drink!
Thanks __
Morat20 | February 26, 2008, 6:07pm | #
I haven't actually seen a "cult of Obama".I've seen stupid Obama supporters on the net whose enthusiasm is considerably higher than their IQ, but to be totally blunt -- I've seen McCain supporters, Ron Paul supporters, Hillary supporters, Thompson supporters, Kerry supporters, Dean supporters.....all who fit the bill.
It's really a stock smear leveied against any candidate with enthusiasm. (What else can you fire at the popular candidate?) I'd think with Obama it'd probably be a shoe-in for an attack line, simply because many Americans tend to subconciously associate black oratory with the pulpit, and Obama clearly takes from that style of oratory.
He's popular, he's winning, he's a gifted speaker, and he seems pretty clean as far as these things go. Really, attack wise, you're stuck with "He sounds Muslim" and "His supporters are a cult".
On a tangent -- I just got into an argument claiming "No one's ever talking about policy. It's all empty words.". I had to point out that "No one is talking about X" and "No one is bothering to report on X" are two different things.
The media has an aversion to reporting on policy, and they don't tend to play clips from the policy portions of ANYONE's speeches unless they say something way off the reservation.
Tbone | February 26, 2008, 6:18pm | #
Jeebus but I'm tired of overblown rhetoric. The only thing I expect from a President is to follow the oath of office. It would also be nice if there were some restoration of the notion of coequal branches. Not interested in a King, Messiah, Napoleon, Caesar, or reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard.Both will dazzle with hollow oratory; both will divert from promises; and either will fail to live up to ridiculous expectations once elected. This quadrennial Prom King mentality crap is just flat-assed getting old.
joe | February 26, 2008, 6:23pm | #
I've spent a year reading Ron Paul threads.Don't give me this "Obama Cult" shit.
joe | February 26, 2008, 6:24pm | #
You know what? When Barack Obama has a 90% approval rating and declares that Jesus chose him to be president, we can talk about a cult of personality.My friends, thhis is a talking point the Republicans made up because, my friends, John McCain, my friends, borrowed his charisma from Joe Lieberman, my friends.
Bingo | February 26, 2008, 6:36pm | #
Blah blah blah my name is joe blah blah blah. Democrats woo! Blah.Bingo | February 26, 2008, 6:55pm | #
joe:W had a cult of personality without going to the extremes that you mentioned for Obama (although it might take those extremes before your partisanship would ever allow you to admit it), and Paul obviously has/had one too. People want to elect a fucking messiah, and they treat presidential candidates and presidents as such.
Plus don't you think your rapid, reflexive defense of Obama's crazy supporters is a little cult-like, hrmm?
stephen the goldberger | February 26, 2008, 7:07pm | #
joe did you even read the article, or are you responding to what H&R commentators are saying? Weigel essentially agrees with you.joe | February 26, 2008, 7:08pm | #
stephen,I both read the article AND responded to what Hit & Run commenters were saying.
bigbigslacker | February 26, 2008, 7:21pm | #
"You people" that do not see anything cultish in Obama supporters do not live in Illinois. My mom used to be on the coolaid, but she may have changed her mind. I'm not certain of that, but she forwards me all those emails from her friends revealing Osama's status as alternately either a Muslim, or a radical black Christian racist, or a dirty Jew, or whatever the latest claim is. Ma's liberal friends never send anything around that indicates he might be a socialist, so I'm assuming he must not be a good American instead.bigbigslacker | February 26, 2008, 7:22pm | #
subtract that last "not", or add another one...Paul | February 26, 2008, 7:32pm | #
god, will people please quit with the "empty suit" line. It's getting fucking dull. At least come up with something new.The suit is...half full?
MRW | February 26, 2008, 7:37pm | #
"ok, right, except for (start porn music)...Ron Paul.Which may explain why he hasnt won dick."
Wait a sec... Just what the hell kind of porno is this?
Paul | February 26, 2008, 7:37pm | #
Both Obama and McCain have speechifying talent but not much in the way of ideas.And with this I must disagree. Obama has lots of ideas. Big ideas. And we know what we libertarians think about big ideas...
I for one like Barack Hussein Obama, i think he's a decent guy, but i don't like his policies. I do know a lot of young people like myself who are voting for Barack Hussein Obama simply because he's young(er) and makes a good speech, the same speech over and over "change and hope and hope and change, washington bad, time for change, let's use our hope, disenfranchised youth, community organizer, selma, hope and change and change and hope, hopemonger, the same old people doing the same old things! Hope!"
just read what i wrote, let me clarify: there are a lot of young people(young like me) who will be voting for Barack Hussein Obama, but not me, i don't find him very original at all.
Shane | February 26, 2008, 7:57pm | #
god, will people please quit with the "empty suit" line. It's getting fucking dull. At least come up with something new.We will when he fills it with more than "hope" and "change". I don't respond well to overt emotionalism, it's wrong to vote for a guy simply because he's young black and charismatic. Where was his character when he voted all those times as present instead of yay or nay?
joe | February 26, 2008, 8:05pm | #
Hitting every talking point in the book, aren't you?So? What's the deal "Shane?" You a HIllary hack?
Shane | February 26, 2008, 8:19pm | #
So? What's the deal "Shane?" You a HIllary hack?LMAO!
no thank you. I'm just a free-thinker who doesn't think Obama should be praised based on how many people faint in his presence. When he comes up with some innovative ideas let me know, tell then i don't care how many 19 year olds wait in line to touch his robe. MLK, JFK, JHC, he is not. and i don't care for socialists either.
icl | February 26, 2008, 8:35pm | #
Shane, if you are a free thinker, why do you regurgitate, right-wing talking points by using Obama's middle name as a racial slur? Feel free to criticize Obama on the issues, but you lose your credibility as soon as you start sounding like Ann Coulter.Lev Strauss | February 26, 2008, 8:35pm | #
Umm...this is Reason? You do not think a lot of young enthusiastic supporters in the frenzy of a general election campaign will be a liability? Umm...you guys ever hear of Ron Paul? He had other issues but they were always ready to pounce on the crazy supporters. We already have Che flags, Farakhan's support, which will bring some rather unsavory supporters, and god knows what else.Barack is going to encounter problems in other places and the current media love affair might cost him the job because he hasn't even been close to being vetted. The Republicans are holding the heavy fire for the election if they have it. Not only will this guy appear novice, but he'll get hit with flip flopping in a comical manner. Flip flops on NAFTA, marijuana decriminalization, Iraq pullout timelines and promises, plus all the uncalled for stuff to scare old people, etc. will make this anything but a cakewalk. Then you have gun control and the impression of Chicago politicians. I just hope it doesn't cause OJ/LA Riot like tensions again, I really hope enough old racists have died since then.
stephen the goldberger | February 26, 2008, 9:00pm | #
Umm...this is Reason? You do not think a lot of young enthusiastic supporters in the frenzy of a general election campaign will be a liability? Umm...you guys ever hear of Ron Paul?I think its foolish to assume that Ron's enthusiastic supporters were a liability. The problem wasn't that they were enthusiastic, it was that they were computer programmers, IT people, and hermits. In other words, nerds. Just because they were enthusiastic was not a turn off, it was who they were fundamentally.
Also Paul's message is a little harder to market to the mainstream than Obama's.
MCallister | February 26, 2008, 10:14pm | #
"They want Jesus Christ. They'll settle for Sun Myung Moon."Actually conservatives already accepted Moon. Not as president but as the "True Father" of conservatism. The right's leaders were smart. They knew years ago that without Moon's billions in overseas cash, his fronts, his know how the right never takes all three branches of the government in 2000 nor would the right be as authoritarian, union hating, or theocratic absent his help and guidance.
Moon is the number one funder and molder of conservative thought over the last 30 years.
No one else comes close.
PaddyWhack | February 26, 2008, 10:21pm | #
Scroll down here for Is Barack Obama Running a Cult?People should have learned about cults 30 years ago before Moon had his way with us. Obama's following isn't remotely a cult but we can be sure we will hear that bilge all summer from the trained seals.
Neal | February 26, 2008, 11:11pm | #
One of the best articles I've seen on Obama, his success in this campaign, and the momentum that is pushing him towards the presidency.Too bad Americans don't understand the job description.
Shane | February 27, 2008, 8:53am | #
by using Obama's middle name as a racial slur?What makes his middle name a racial slur?
Jake Boone | February 27, 2008, 9:38am | #
Because I'm curious whether you refer to all the candidates with their full names, or just Obama.Do you discuss the positions of Ronald Ernest Paul as compared to those of Michael Dale Huckabee? Do you refer to the also-ran Democrats as Maurice Robert Gravel and Dennis John Kucinich?
'Cause if it's just Obama, it sounds suspiciously smeary (and I say this as a non-Obama supporter). There are plenty of ways to attack the guy; repeating his middle name over and over because it "sounds scary" is lame, and makes it sound like there's nothing substantive with which to attack him.
NAL | February 27, 2008, 12:20pm | #
Also Paul's message is a little harder to market to the mainstream than Obama'sLiberalism (economically speaking) is easy to market because it's the easy way out. The solution to every societal problem is "throw other people's money at it."
The Republicans have the same motto, they just resort to borrowing other people's money instead of taking it.
Freeranger | February 27, 2008, 12:47pm | #
Conservatives sell irrational fear. Obama sells irrational hope. It's all bullshit, but I'd rather our nation were hopeful than fearful. "Rattional" would be nice, but get real.SS25-Topol | February 27, 2008, 1:10pm | #
I believe Obama's cult will begin deflating, probably within a month or so of Hillary punching out of this mess. The longer she sticks around, the better Obama will do and the more fervent the cult will get. The ability of a natural politico like Obama to contrast himself and his competently run campaign with the manufactured, self-absorbed circus of the Clinton operation and candidate is like a Yankees pitcher throwing softballs to Hank Aaron...he's gonna hit'em out of the park every time and the crowd will go wild for it.John McCain, unlike Hillary Clinton, is no softball pitcher dumped in a big-league game....he's closer to Sandy Koufax than softball in the politics game. The narraritive of his personal story is incredibly powerful, and the only conceivable antidote for an old white guy to deal with the "colorful" (no pun intended!) background Mr. Obama brings to the table. Whether you agree with McCain or not, and I mostly don't, I can't deny the guy Believes in what he's doing - again totally unlike the HILL-9000. He's also smarter on his feet than Hillary Clinton, has a sharper wit, has a temper that when it flares is good show and doesn't make you wince away like looking at the aftermath of a car-wreck which is what I do when Clinton says "shame on you, Barack Obama!" It's also important to note he does not feel under siege from MSM, and he doesn't engender their dislike by the way he treats MSM in return.
Obama has not had to compete in a general election against a real opposition candidate, he owes Jeri Ryan as much as anyone or anything within himself for his current job. In McCain he encounters someone who is equally good as a showman in the political theater, and ultimately it is those qualities that win the Big One. Shrill attack politics is only useful for pols in a race where both have a tin ear, it always is a disaster against an excellent showman (like HILL-9000's huzbot, Bill). McCain is too smart and too good for that, and he's a good showman himself. I pretty much am disgusted with both of these characters regarding their ideologies and what they wish to inflict on national finance and my freedoms, but as a political observer, this is going to be a heck of a race between two natural showman in the political theater, once the amateurs are completely off the stage anyways.
Jed Rothwell | February 27, 2008, 5:14pm | #
Some of Obama's supporters go overboard, but the man seems level-headed to me. I see nothing cultish about him. He talks like a talented professor in Constitutional Law and someone you might pick to edit the Harvard Law Review. Because that is what he is. He is a member of the Ivy League elite, along with FDR and JFK. He does not pretend to be anything else.He is refreshing because he does not hide his roots, or pretend to be an awe-shucks "down-home" folksy guy, or pretend that he likes to shoot animals, or any of the other sickening stereotypes that so many American politicians embrace.
His gift is that he can make pedestrian, commonsense goals such as healthcare reform seem exalted, and he can motivate young people to help reach them. That is an excellent quality for a leader.
Terry Nugent | February 29, 2008, 6:03pm | #
The messiah (small m) wants to raise taxes by $200 billion according to this week's Wall Street Journal. Obama's bound to let the flock down--he is a bubble that will burst when pricked by the ever sharp pin of reality. Those of us in Illinois know he's corrupt (see Chicago Tribune on Rezko indictment) The only question is will he suffer the fate of all other mere mortals who inspire such devotion (the Beatles, Elvis) before the election or after. It may be after because McCain may be too much of a chivalrous warrior to do the negative stuff it will take to break the BO halo in the general, in which case he will probably implode in office in the face of the realities which bring most Presidents down low--jihadi nuclear terror threat, economic challenges, tax and spend, etc.MRA | March 5, 2008, 2:42pm | #
Cultish or not, I haven't found Obama supporters who really know what he stands for or have thought through his policies. He's a great politician (good at speeches, quick-thinking in debates, and personable), but I can't stand his policies.I asked a friend--whose opinions I respected 6 months ago--why he supported Obama, even though he disagreed with about 70% of Obama's stuff.
His answer was that even though he disagreed with much of what Obama stood for, he thought this country needed "change" and that Obama is exactly what this country needs. Apparently my friend doesn't realize he sounds like a moron when he says that.
Still no word on what that "change" actually is.
I'm just glad my friend isn't a US citizen.
(And yes I know, one friend is a poor sample size. But you don't have to look too deeply into the media to find similar answers.)