Obama's Rock Star popularity

[YOhio]

I wonder if this will ever begin to work against him. Right now there is little question that a decent portion of his popularity is due to people who are excited by his popularity itself. This happens all the time in the pop music world, but when it does it inevitably turns off a lot of fellow admirers who go off looking for the next best thing.

In this case, there really is no next best thing. For a while, McCain was the coolest Republican around. He would show up on SNL and John Stewart loved him, but now he's Bush III. A grumpy, ugly, old warmonger. So the threat isn't McCain, but I think it's attention span. The only way Obama loses popularity is if his fawning admirers disengage from politics altogether. He'll have to compete against the NFL, CFB and World Series. He'll have to compete against good news if it comes, the inevitable capturing of OBL, falling gas prices, etc. I think all these things pose a bigger threat to him than John McCain. Mano a mano there is no contest.

It will be fascinating to see if he's able to sustain his popularity, not only through November but far beyond that. Though I won't vote for him, he is probably the most unique politician I've seen in my life. It's fun to watch.

[BYU71]

Originally Posted by YOhio

I wonder if this will ever begin to work against him. Right now there is little question that a decent portion of his popularity is due to people who are excited by his popularity itself. This happens all the time in the pop music world, but when it does it inevitably turns off a lot of fellow admirers who go off looking for the next best thing.

In this case, there really is no next best thing. For a while, McCain was the coolest Republican around. He would show up on SNL and John Stewart loved him, but now he's Bush III. A grumpy, ugly, old warmonger. So the threat isn't McCain, but I think it's attention span. The only way Obama loses popularity is if his fawning admirers disengage from politics altogether. He'll have to compete against the NFL, CFB and World Series. He'll have to compete against good news if it comes, the inevitable capturing of OBL, falling gas prices, etc. I think all these things pose a bigger threat to him than John McCain. Mano a mano there is no contest.

It will be fascinating to see if he's able to sustain his popularity, not only through November but far beyond that. Though I won't vote for him, he is probably the most unique politician I've seen in my life. It's fun to watch.

I think you are on to something there. I have actually had several people over the last couple of weeks tell me they once thought Obama was refreshing and might be a good change. They say the more this goes on, they are getting tired of him. They don't like his policies and one guy told me yesterday, "the Europeans loving him has made me decide I was wrong for supporting him."

If the republicans can make his record stick, he might not be as big a shoe in as people think.

[Tex]

You need to read the Book of Obama

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

Heh.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by BYU71

I think you are on to something there. I have actually had several people over the last couple of weeks tell me they once thought Obama was refreshing and might be a good change. They say the more this goes on, they are getting tired of him. They don't like his policies and one guy told me yesterday, "the Europeans loving him has made me decide I was wrong for supporting him."

If the republicans can make his record stick, he might not be as big a shoe in as people think.

Triplet doesn't believe you.

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by Adam

Obama has the potential to be similar in his paradigm shifting influence. We'll see if he pulls it off, but I think the chance is over 50% that he will succeed.

Got pot?

[Tex]

Originally Posted by Adam

Obama has the chance to be a truly transformative President.

The last one was Reagan. Before Reagan, everyone viewed the world one way--afterwords the world just looked different. Like him or hate him, Reagan changed the conversation and the dynamics of politics, both domestically (lower taxes and deficit spending) and internationally (the "Evil Empire" and StarWars missile defense).

Obama has the potential to be similar in his paradigm shifting influence. We'll see if he pulls it off, but I think the chance is over 50% that he will succeed.

Taking off my anti-Obama hat for a minute, it's still remarkable how people can say this after listening to a few rhetoric-heavy speeches. For all the flower talk, the man has an extremely brief resume.

Reagan, "like him or hate him", had a solid resume of accomplishments. You had a decent idea of how he would govern. Obama? Nobody really knows. We have to simply go by his speeches, or a string of "present" votes in the Illinois legislature, or his non-existent membership on the Senate Banking committee.

Obama is highly charismatic, no question. But Reagan? Please. What do you know about the man to make such a comparison.

[ute4ever]

Although I was just a lad, I remember candidate Bill Clinton playing the sax on the Arsenio Hall show while wearing his cool dude sunglasses. The other option was old man Herbert Walker.

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by Tex

Taking off my anti-Obama hat for a minute, it's still remarkable how people can say this after listening to a few rhetoric-heavy speeches. For all the flower talk, the man has an extremely brief resume.

Reagan, "like him or hate him", had a solid resume of accomplishments. You had a decent idea of how he would govern. Obama? Nobody really knows. We have to simply go by his speeches, or a string of "present" votes in the Illinois legislature, or his non-existent membership on the Senate Banking committee.

Obama is highly charismatic, no question. But Reagan? Please. What do you know about the man to make such a comparison.

I think Obama has a couple of things going for him that could allow him to get a few quick accomplishments under his belt.

First, if elected, he'll have big time political capital. This may sound paranoid or conspiratorial, but come January or February, we'll start hearing some damn good news coming out of Iraq. The national mood will be lifted and Obama will have some serious cred. His 2009 honeymoon period could last well into the fall.

Second, he'll be dealing with a Democratic congress that has a sizable majority. Unless Nancy P and Harry Reid pull a power play, Congressional Dems will be at the Presidents' beck and call.

Third, I think Obama has surrounded himself with a pretty good staff. His campaign is very well run and it's likely that his administration will be equally efficient.

It's very possible that at this time next year we will be discussing how we're enjoying our new universal health care.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by Tex

Taking off my anti-Obama hat for a minute, it's still remarkable how people can say this after listening to a few rhetoric-heavy speeches. For all the flower talk, the man has an extremely brief resume.

Reagan, "like him or hate him", had a solid resume of accomplishments. You had a decent idea of how he would govern. Obama? Nobody really knows. We have to simply go by his speeches, or a string of "present" votes in the Illinois legislature, or his non-existent membership on the Senate Banking committee.

Obama is highly charismatic, no question. But Reagan? Please. What do you know about the man to make such a comparison.

Come on, Tex. Reagan was a governor in California for 8 years. That is good experience, but it hardly indicated how he would govern in the White House (at least fiscally). In fact, if Reagan had acted as president as he had acted as governor, he wouldn't be a fraction of the celebrity in the Republican party today as he is.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by YOhio

I think Obama has a couple of things going for him that could allow him to get a few quick accomplishments under his belt.

First, if elected, he'll have big time political capital. This may sound paranoid or conspiratorial, but come January or February, we'll start hearing some damn good news coming out of Iraq. The national mood will be lifted and Obama will have some serious cred. His 2009 honeymoon period could last well into the fall.

Second, he'll be dealing with a Democratic congress that has a sizable majority. Unless Nancy P and Harry Reid pull a power play, Congressional Dems will be at the Presidents' beck and call.

Third, I think Obama has surrounded himself with a pretty good staff. His campaign is very well run and it's likely that his administration will be equally efficient.

It's very possible that at this time next year we will be discussing how we're enjoying our new universal health care.

Yep. McCain is the worst candidate possible to run against Obama right now. A Washington insider who has been in DC forever (and looks like he has been there even longer than forever) who is an awful speaker and abandoned the one trait that would have made him formidable- being a "maverick."

I think the electoral vote will be a landslide for Obama, the Congress will heavily lean Democratic, and he will have a lot of momentum in his early term to push through much of his agenda. He could transform the Democratic party in much the same way Reagan did his.