Comments on: What Do You Want to Know from Obama’s German Fans?

By: DLS

DLS — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:29:28 +0000

“This is so exciting…”

I know. [rolling eyes]

By: pacatrue

pacatrue — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:38:33 +0000

Without labels, we'd have to consider people and ideas individually — and sometimes that could make us look at our own opinions again. That's got to be stopped. Therefore, it's best to wage a battle over the moral superiority of the Left or the Right, blame conservatives and liberals, dismiss support for one candidate as irrational so that we don't have to think of two intelligent people as simply disagreeing, and on and on.

By: RememberNovember

RememberNovember — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:05:53 +0000

"That's a caricature."

It's a stereotype fully supported by the truth about so many of his white "progressive" supporters."

Obama was born in'61- that puts him at the tail end of the baby boom.

So you're not really talking about Obama, but rather some of the fringe of his supporters. I equate these people with the rabid "HillRaiser" Hillary contrarian supporters-cum-McCain whiners. The opposition beatifying him as a "messiah" is ironic- because most of his supporters don't. It's those who want to Made in China -flag-pin it on him.

and what of those who proslytize McCain as the "War Hero", is that any less so of charictarurization? People are so much more than what the media tries to typecast them as.

labels, labels labels....lets just keep them on the table table table.

By: DLS

DLS — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:14:02 +0000

"That's a caricature."

It's a stereotype fully supported by the truth about so many of his white "progressive" supporters.

Incidentally, Obama is a Baby Boomer, not the "post-Boomer" so many claim.

What interests me is that he has not been reluctant to go his own way rather than the establishment's in Chicago (though he has demonstrated there that he'll work with the establishment and even talk to conservatives if this is useful). This allays a major concern I had (that he'd be like another Daley as well as being like another Carter or McGovern).

By: elrod

elrod — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:34:49 +0000

Obama is not a “messiah” to his backers in the US. That's a caricature. Many of us support Obama for the reasons Andrew Sullivan has laid out: Obama is a reasonable and pragmatic man who helps turn the generational page past the Baby Boomer culture wars. He's a fairly conventional Democrat, but unlike other Democrats, he's unafraid to stand up for himself and he actually has charisma.

He's not the messiah. He's just a damn good politician and one that I think will make an effective President.

By: DLS

DLS — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:39:02 +0000

Dr. E: The Obama phenomenon in the USA is a personality cult (overseas it is somewhat of a personality cult but mainly a celebrity phenomenon) that is driven by superficial appeal, political correctness, and reverse-discriminatory "identity politics" among many liberals, most notably "progressive" [sic] whites.

It has next to nothing to do with the late state of affairs in our economy or the more long-standing situation in Iraq and distrust of the Republicans, which were made evident in the 1996 elections.

Obama is the Messiah to the personality cultists this election year.

Obama is attractive, young, smooth-talking, articulate, and master of sound bites.

Obama has the liberal media behind him rather than against him.

There is more personality cult and religiosity with Obama than you may suspect.

Obama is not only the PC crowd's Messiah.

He is also their most beloved, personified *** ANTI-BUSH ***.

By: Ricorun

Ricorun — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:25:33 +0000

Ask them if they'd mind if Obama gave Merkel a backrub.

By: D. E.Rodriguez

D. E.Rodriguez — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:21:03 +0000

Good questions, dr e.

Pleas also ask the Europeans what they think of the mentality of those iin the U.S. who propose that European admiration (almost adulation) and respect for Obama will "hurt" the candidate.

Thanks

By: archangel

archangel — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:11:53 +0000

thank you for asking: please ask discerning Germans who are older if they see any parallels in the USA today to 1933 pre Third Reich Germany…high inflation, a sense of having been beaten, a sense the nation has fallen from its greatness to a considerable degree, having been defeated in a long war some decades previous, in an economic slump with other nations surging ahead, a desire to have a strong fresh leader who would restore pride, et al

dr.e