A scene in the movie Dick captures a pop culture phenomenon of the early 1970s. Arlene Lorenzo (Michelle Williams), as did countless teenage girls across the nation in the Nixon era, plastered images of singer and teen heartthrob, Bobby Sherman, all over her bedroom wall. (Later, she’d replace Sherman’s pictures with those of Richard Nixon, only to rip those down when she becomes disenchanted with the then-President.)
I often think of the Bobby Sherman phenomenon when I see the iconic image of Barack Obama plastered to the rear window or bumper of a car — or on someone’s T-shirt. I can’t recall any other political candidate whose bumper sticker featured his image. Sometimes, it seems more a personality cult than political campaign.
Talking to certain Obama supporters, I really do get the sense this is more a cult than a campaign. I ask them to name something he has accomplished in office. Well, he was a community organizer. What did he do as a community organizer? He organized his community, comes the tautological reply. Can you name specific things he’s done. Silence.
In one case, an Obama supporter actually told me that his accomplishments didn’t matter. He just liked the way the Democrat spoke, saying the Illinois Senator’s words convinced him he could lead.
Or take a gander at some of the conservatives backing Obama. They base their support not on their man’s record, but his promise. Commending the Democrat on his books, his temperament and his intellect, Christopher Buckley writes:
Obama has in him, I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy ‘We are the people we have been waiting for’ silly rhetoric, the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for.
Like my interlocutors who are unfamiliar with Obama’s accomplishments, so too is Buckley. Well, maybe he is so familiar; he just doesn’t cite those accomplishments in his endorsement.
Like teenage girls in the early 1970s, Democrats, some independents and and a handful of conservatives have become infatuated with someone because of his looks and ability to sing, er, speak, reasonably well. They love him for the image he projects not the ideas he promotes.
I wonder if their fascination will fade if Obama loses. Or if he handles an international crisis the way his running mate expects him to. Maybe, like Arlene Lorenzo, they’ll tear his pictures down when they fall for another man.
Fads are fleeting. Especially the first time THE ONE fails to live up to a promise or an expectation.
I loved me some Bobby Sherman. Donny Osmond, David Cassidy, and Michael Jackson. I just could not grow up with them.
We all have our fads, our passing fancies. We just cannot pledge our troth to them.
Still, if someone offered me, “You can have an entire night with Davy Jones, no questions asked.” I would quiver.
The bigger the build-up, the greater the disappointment.
“Or if he handles an international crisis the way his running mate expects him to”
Twist, twist, twist.
Biden said Obama would be tested, he made no comment on how Obama would do. Typical, if you can’t use the truth, just make it up.
Nice to see how the “big tent” folks go for the jugular when one of their own doesn’t goose step in the right direction. Buckley at least has the cojones to stand up for what he believes. And speaking of “big tent”, have you read what little Petey Labarbera has to say about LCR, and do you enjoy the fact that your “allies” use you as a scare tactic to get votes? Oh, and the woman you idolize more than old queens loved Judy Garland wants to warp the Constitution of the US against you. Hopefully some day you will realize that despite the fact that some individual conservatives accept you, as a whole the “movement” despises you. The Dems suck, and they pretend to support LGBT causes in order to get votes but the knives they put in our backs only cause wounds, your allies come at us with machetes and aim for the neck. Sad you can’t see it and fill your days spewing venom at those you perceive to be your enemy.
Conservative should not mean stupid.
Virginia Democrats tossing out military ballots on technicalities, but letting college students vote illegally.
So, Dave, is this just your usual pile of crap that has no sourcing, no links, no citations… and when you’re challenged on it, you’re going to claim the filter ate your proof, and then when invited to post the links on another blog, you just slink off. Is that what this is? Because that trick has grown tiresome.
I’ve heard this line from more than one Obama supporters. I personally would prefer a president that can do the job, regardless of how eloquent he is.
I had the pleasure of seeing Ayaan Hirsi Ali last night. Of course people tried to tie her to Obama in their questions. (they are both black – she must support him, she was cryptic on that issue)
She said something profound: It is not a good idea to turn him into a godlike figure. Because he, like all presidents before him will fail at something. In doing so he will drag down the whole black community with him – since they are so invested in him because he is black.
Obama has youth, charisma and is a great orator. McCain has none of these things. I wonder how many people are hooked on the personality of Obama and not the substance of where really stands on the issues.
“Obama has youth, charisma and is a great orator.”
While Obama might have youth as compared to McCain and charisma of a sort, it beggars the imagination to say he is a great orator…..he can read well but I am aware of no instances where he has spoken well off the cuff.
Dave, Biden said that Obama would lose support for his response. That’s not twisting.
Go for the jugular? Give me a break. What about my comment was not accurate. Did Christopher Buckley spell out Obama policy proposals he supported or Obama accomplishments he saluted? Please show me where Buckley’s supporter (I’ve linked his essay announcing his endorsement) in any more than any encomium to Obama’s eloquence.
And are you saying we lack the cojones to stand up for what we believe?
My allies? Peter LaBarbera? What?
Spewing venom? Where?
Movement despises us? How do you know? Have you ever attended a conservative event as an openly gay man as I have done on numerous ****NUMEROUS**** occasions.
What do you know about the conservative movement? Do you even read the sensible conservative blogs where there’s a lot of sympathy for gay marriage?
You offer an insult without evidence, based on a misunderstanding of modern consrvatism.
And Not Always Right, well said, Obama does not speak eloquently off the cuff. Just as Bobby Sherman needed lyrics, Obama needs a script.
Frankly, I hope that Obama is the dim-witted empty-suit sock-puppet he appears to be. It’s much less dangerous than the alternative.
Speaking of cults of personalities, the Obama t-shirts remind me of these from Putin’s early days:
http://www.compromat.ru/main/putin/image/20011908-3.jpg
Those aren’t official campaign bumper stickers, if they display Obama’s image. The only bumper stickers distributed by the campaign uses Obama’s distinctive “O” logo, the same logo he has used since announcing his candidacy in Springfield, Illinois. So I don’t get where you are coming from with this post.
However, his logo has been vastly important to his image. That “O” has been as successful as Bush’s distinct “W” logo from 2004. Just goes to show, Obama came to win from the very beginning. The “O” is a brilliant design, as was Bush’s “W.”
Erick, thanks for saying that. Didn’t know they were not official campaign stickers. Still, the post was about the adulation of his followers, not campaign tactics.
It would be decidedly creepy if the campaign had put them out.
Wasn’t Bobby Sherman the guy who sang Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah?
This is an interesting take by GPW. Bottom line is Obama is extremely liberal. In a country that is right of center. Maybe the country is ready for more bigger government but I doubt it. What I see is people who play by the rules getting mad and frustrated because those that don’t… get bailed out. People are furious that they have to come to the rescue of those living outsides the bounds of normal calculous. Obama wants MORE of that not less. When Obamas PERFORMANCE doesn’t measure up, it will be interesting to see the reaction of his followers. BTW since 90% of the media is in tank for Obama, what will become of all the news stations after he is elected? Do we really need 9 stations parioting the Obama talking points hourly? In the USSR they only needed one station to do that work.
TGC: I’m a music buff, so I can answer your question. It was Allan Sherman who sang “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” in 1963. Bobby Sherman came along in the late 60s-early 70s singing hits like “Julie, Do Ya Love Me”, “Little Woman”, “Easy Come, Easy Go” & “La La La (If I Had You)”.
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 10/24/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
I understand where you’re coming from. Lets face it, Obama is a good looking guy, but I feel weird about putting his FACE on paraphernalia that isn’t my iphone wallpaper or something. T-shirts and bumpers stickers seem a little over the top, but there is a lot of that out there amongst independent vendors. I love his “O” logo though. I do believe having a distinct symbol like that helped him defeat Clinton in the primary. It branded his image. It is classic Americana. It really got his campaign off on the right foot right out of the starting gate.
#17
Yeah, I know it was Allan Sherman. I was just being funny. Although, my first thought upon reading the post was to wonder why girls would have posters of Allan Sherman. I was initially confused.
Can’t say I’ve heard of Bobby until this post.