No Country for Old Common Sense

"Here and there one could see women crying and some men wiping away tears too.(...) When 16,000 people, without prompting, start shouting some of his keynote phrases as he delivers them, you know something special is going on. The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands." Geoff Elliott - The Australian

"There was something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messiahnism" Joe Klein - Time

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." H. L. Mencken

"It is one thing to preach and quite another to give people bread." Spanish saying

David Seaton's News Links
Australians are famous for their plain spoken common sense, as Americans once were... a very long time ago. Geoff Elliott, The Australian's Washington correspondent asks some awkward questions about the prospective emperor's new wardrobe.

How does a cult figure, in the eyes of some something akin to a messiah, make the transition to a political frontrunner - president even - where disappointment will soon crush what seemed to be a journey to a promised land? (...) If he gets the Democratic Party's nomination another test begins anew: how to turn the narrative which is all about striving for what is possible, to one where people are suddenly asking how are you actually going to do it?

Certainly, it appears that many Americans are desperately clutching at straws, filled with powerful, inchoate, emotions as Barack Obama rhythmically strokes his platitudes. Students of American history will be reminded of "The Second Great Awakening", which of course was closely followed by "The Great Disappointment".

Many observers draw parallels between Obama and Jesus, but there are significant differences between the two. Obama, although visible has no clear program, whereas Jesus, although invisible, has a fairly clear program, briefly put: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, harbor the harborless, visit the sick, ransom the captive, bury the dead, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted and to pray for the living and the dead.

Although, as far as I know this program has never been put into effect anywhere at any time, many people still find it attractive and would willingly vote for it if they could. However, its superficial resemblance to Socialism might make it subject to controversy, if seriously put forward by a presidential candidate.

Changing the subject a bit, I find it curious that Hillary Clinton, who has some serious proposals about health care, child care and the like, only receives contributions from big donors, that is to say rich people; whereas Obama, who offers little or nothing that could be of any assistance to the poor or oppressed, has managed to perfect the Howard Dean techniques of small donations through the Internet. I think Hillary should take Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee lessons as soon as possible if she it to have any hope of surviving. DS

Geoff Elliott: Obama's first coming - The Australian
Abstract: It was early 1994 when Nelson Mandela gave a speech in a slum outside Cape Town and spoke in grand terms of a new beginning and how when he was elected president every household would have a washing machine. People took him literally. A few months later he became South Africa's first black president. That's when clerks in department stores in Cape Town had to turn people away demanding their free washer and dryer. Having spent some time as a reporter in South Africa watching the Mandela presidency I was reminded of that story this week when I travelled with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on the campaign trail.(...) How does a cult figure, in the eyes of some something akin to a messiah, make the transition to a political frontrunner - president even - where disappointment will soon crush what seemed to be a journey to a promised land? Looking into the faces of a more than 16,000-strong crowd in a basketball stadium in Hartford, Connecticut this week, the Mandela magic I'd seen before was there too. Black and white, and the youth; they appeared in a state close to rapture watching Obama speak. Here and there one could see women crying and some men wiping away tears too.(...) In this man they are projecting a new course - one that he says he will lead - where the US buries the culture wars, charts a new course in bipartisan politics and heralds a new dawn for America. After more than seven years of the Bush administration and when 70 per cent of the populace think America is on the wrong course, there's little wonder that the hunger for something new is real and fertile ground to till for a politician. But Obama is part politician, part cult. Supporters wearing T-shirts with an Andy Warhol like pop-art image of his face testify to that. But then they - him - were once easy to dismiss until people realised Obama's charisma was being matched by one of the most sophisticated ground operations ever seen. It is one that is outsmarting the Clinton machine. He's marrying inspiration and cult with old-fashioned political grunt. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Obama on the stump. It's not so much by what he says but it's the way the crowds respond to his words. When 16,000 people, without prompting, start shouting some of his keynote phrases as he delivers them, you know something special is going on. The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands. And therein lays the danger for Obama. The Obama shuttle has made it into orbit but at some point he's going to have to land this thing back on Earth.(...) Well known political journalist Joe Klein of Time magazine, who was travelling on the campaign plane this week with Obama, too, wrote of a nagging concern about this kind of rhetoric of inspiration over substance, noting "there was something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messiahnism". In his Super Tuesday speech Obama said "we are the ones we've been waiting for", attempting to make the case the time was now to get some "change" in Washington: a post-partisan world where politicians reach across the aisle for the common good. "This time can be different because this campaign for the presidency of the United States of America is different," he said. "It's different not because of me. It's different because of you." As Klein notes, this is "not just maddeningly vague but also disingenuous: the campaign is entirely about Obama and his ability to inspire. "Rather than focusing on any specific issue or cause - other than an amorphous desire for change - the message is becoming dangerously self-referential. The Obama campaign all too often is about how wonderful the Obama campaign is."(...) I'd venture to call him a favourite in this race now. The next nine statewide contests through February are, given the demographics, likely to go Obama's way. He may well build an unstoppable momentum. And then the giddiness might evaporate and be replaced with something else. In marketing they call it post-purchase disappointment. If he gets the Democratic Party's nomination another test begins anew: how to turn the narrative which is all about striving for what is possible, to one where people are suddenly asking how are you actually going to do it? READ IT ALL