Obama and the end of the world
Greg Yatarola
Issue date: 3/18/08 Section: Viewpoint
Ever since I got this column, I've wanted to write about Barack Obama. At first, I wanted to praise him for being so positive and staying above the harsh rhetoric common to ambitious politicians. As a conservative (well, mainly), I wanted to express my gratitude for the fact that he, from what I could tell, didn't hate me. It was so nice to see such a prominent Democrat refrain from constantly accusing Republicans of hating poor people/old people/little people/Mexicans/blacks/Muslims/gays/women/children/polar bears/etc. I found his warmth and charm a pleasant contrast to his main rival, who I bet would like to bite my face off and eat my brain. Even his name's cool. So duped was I that I nurtured the hope that his ultra-liberal voting record was just a means to get the nomination, and that once elected he'd govern as a moderate.
By the time I'd submitted articles I considered higher-priority, though, the "Look - this guy's not a shrill partisan jerk!" story was old news. Even important conservatives had written glowingly about Illinois' junior senator, or at least as glowingly as they could about a liberal, and not just because they enjoyed seeing someone giving the Clintons problems.
My next Obama idea was more about his supporters. Friends who follow politics carefully began telling me about the more ridiculous aspects of Obama mania - people actually fainting at his rallies, describing their "coming to Obama" conversions, making creepily propagandist YouTube videos, etc. By then, I'd realized his campaign was just a bunch of hot air, and that his movement was mainly a pop-culture phenomenon, a shallow fad. I found it especially amusing that most of his support, aside from black voters, was coming from the highly-educated - the last group you'd expect to fall for smooth empty oratory (unless you're cynical about contemporary higher education, like me). I thought of Santino's question to Michael, whether he'd gone to college to get stupid.
Once again, though, I was the last lion to the kill. Poking fun at the over-the-top-ness of Obama hype had become a common theme, as had criticism of his message as vacuous. So I'd decided to forget about him, and was thinking of writing an advice piece for seniors about how to enter the white-collar world (item: if the office go-to girl comes to your cubicle seeking a donation for an AIDS charity, don't ask whether she'd contracted it). Then I saw the latest issue of Rolling Stone.
By the time I'd submitted articles I considered higher-priority, though, the "Look - this guy's not a shrill partisan jerk!" story was old news. Even important conservatives had written glowingly about Illinois' junior senator, or at least as glowingly as they could about a liberal, and not just because they enjoyed seeing someone giving the Clintons problems.
My next Obama idea was more about his supporters. Friends who follow politics carefully began telling me about the more ridiculous aspects of Obama mania - people actually fainting at his rallies, describing their "coming to Obama" conversions, making creepily propagandist YouTube videos, etc. By then, I'd realized his campaign was just a bunch of hot air, and that his movement was mainly a pop-culture phenomenon, a shallow fad. I found it especially amusing that most of his support, aside from black voters, was coming from the highly-educated - the last group you'd expect to fall for smooth empty oratory (unless you're cynical about contemporary higher education, like me). I thought of Santino's question to Michael, whether he'd gone to college to get stupid.
Once again, though, I was the last lion to the kill. Poking fun at the over-the-top-ness of Obama hype had become a common theme, as had criticism of his message as vacuous. So I'd decided to forget about him, and was thinking of writing an advice piece for seniors about how to enter the white-collar world (item: if the office go-to girl comes to your cubicle seeking a donation for an AIDS charity, don't ask whether she'd contracted it). Then I saw the latest issue of Rolling Stone.