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Not all Obama supporters are in it, but ever since 2008, the “cult of Obama” has felt really weird to me, and it’s only gotten weirder. All this is, of course, encouraged by Obama and his campaign. Jeff’s right when he says it makes it “a little Kim Jong-il”.
I think some of it is a reflection of our culture’s growing obsession with celebrity. We can’t just have a smart leader with integrity for president—we have to someone who is photogenic, who can do late night TV shows, who we can have a beer with. Even though none of these things really matter.
But some of it is also a focus on emotional connection as opposed to policy understanding. I mean, does Jessica Alba really pledge her support to a guy who is bombing Middle Eastern kids? It’s easy to like someone who is charming, but it takes work (ie: reading and thinking) to really parse out any politican’s positions, the historical data, predict future impact, etc.
The only Republican president who I think gets close to this level of celebrity is Reagan, but he brought Hollywood with him to the White House—he didn’t become a celebritybecause of public service. Also, Reagan is revered for his policies as much as anything.
Although his awesome hair should be a role model to all young men.
There is nothing weirder than Barack Obama’s official campaign Tumblr. It’s primary purpose, it seems, is not to galvanize voters on the issues, or coordinate grassroots efforts, or inform voters about policy. No, it’s primary purpose is celebrate how cool President Obama is. The man can drain three-pointers, even at 7 am. He brought donuts—DONUTS!—to a firehouse. And he said: If you’re not going to sleep, “you might as well be in Vegas”—how terribly clever. Plus, here’s a billion pictures of people adoring the man. The whole thing is a fanboy worship site, which would be fine if it were a fanboy worship site, but it’s the official campaign tumblr. And that makes it a little Kim Jong-il. A similar Romney site would be mocked endlessly by those on the left. But every Obama tumblr post gets reblogged several hundred times. This is weird.
