Sunday, May 24, 2009

The politics of charisma (pt. 1)

Initially written before last November's election, and revised after Obama's historic win:

Since the day he announced his Presidential intentions in the same place Abraham Lincoln delivered his "House Divided" speech nearly 150 years earlier, Change, Hope, and Yes We Can became the ubiquitous battle cries of a political movement that penetrated the American ethos and propelled Barack Obama to a level of stardom not seen since JFK. But with a notable list of contentions that would have ripped like a chainsaw through any other campaign, one is compelled to question how Obama remained all but unscathed as his views and affiliations persisted amid a shroud of uncommon perplexity.

The abundance of opinions about the now-former junior Senator from Illinois nullified any chance for a consensus, but the impassioned drive to land this dashing and youthful idealist into The White House has perchance caused many to overlook the fact that Obama is far from the first politico to employ catch-terms such as change and hope into his platform. Accordingly one may also consider how this particular candidate managed to pierce the national consciousness by wielding almost elementary political methods while concurrently billing himself as major shift from the norm.

Having collected a plethora of endorsements before a clear front-runner was established amid the Democratic primaries, the Obama campaign garnered a "cult-like" distinction and quickly reached a momentum that has yet to hit its pinnacle. Still the common observer is most likely vexed to find how many Obama supporters often faltered when asked to pinpoint the precise reason(s) behind their chosen allegiance -- aside, of course, from the requisite echoing of campaign slogans that are as simplistic as they were effective.

No comments: