Obama as Messiah

E.J Dionne writes:

“She [Clinton] promises toughness, competence, clarity and experience in a year when Democrats are seeking something closer to salvation.”

Maybe after years of wandering in the liberal desert, Democrats aren’t seeking a competent leader as much as the “chosen one.”  Someone who reinforces their instilled ideas and makes them feel good about their core beliefs.  Obama’s campaign isn’t as much about how he will govern as how he makes people feel about government and themselves. It is the liberal’s unending search for acceptance played out on the national stage.

Obama’s campaign has tapped into the collective cult of victimization.  He has spoken to those who feel put upon, unfairly disadvantaged and outcast with the same message delivered from countless Sunday pulpits — if you simply believe it will be manifest.

Left out is the message of self reliance and hard work.  Brushed aside is the concept that success is built upon effort.  Obama gives hope that things can be better not based on concrete policies requiring the drudgery that is governing but magically by his occupation of the Whitehouse.

As James Kirchick writes:

“What is most obnoxious about the Obama candidacy is the belief that his mere presence in the White House will end the world’s problems…”

He points out that Andrew Sullivan, a self-described conservative and all out Obama supporter, asserts that a “first and foremost” reason to vote for Obama is “his face.”  As if the presence of a young, bi-racial man in the Oval Office will somehow show the world that America has now redeemed itself.  By being who he is, Obama offers an opportunity to transcend racial tensions and repay years of oppression. His candidacy is a chance to assuage liberal guilt.

And this makes people feel good.

This hyperventilation is the actualization of a society that has told their children they were special regardless of performance.  This has bread an expectation of success.  Obama is the personification of the core liberal belief that society (and therefore government) can and should do better at taking care of it’s citizens.  The idea that everyone is entitled is his message of hope.

As Kirchick points out, one day America may well look back on this time and ask, “What the hell was this all about.”  Hopefully, for Obama’s sake, he won’t be expected to deliver the hype.