-- AaronShepard - 11 Feb 2009

I hope I am doing this correctly, although somehow I doubt it. Still, I felt compelled to post regarding the article concerning the effect the Obama family has had on people.

One of the repeated ideas surrounding the Obama campaign was that this was more than politics. The campaign was described as a movement, and more than any political figure (at least in my lifetime), Obama really transcended a lot of what a normal politician would represent. Many admirers described him in generalities, or on personal terms, while not much was discussed about the actual politics behind the man. Generally these 'movement' candidates fizzle (see Dean, Howard), but Obama kept going strong, probably for a variety of reasons (eloquence, timing, race, personal story, etc.). In the end, I believe he won mainly because of what people felt he was as a person.

Generally, people have seemed to project their best thoughts and hopes on Obama; this makes sense, since clearly a candidate of pessimism isn't going to win much support. Still, the fact that this article had a clearly negative context was fascinating to me, and seems to speak most to the fragile psyche of (American?) people. By getting so caught up in the accomplishments of one person, the subjects in the article then reflect on their own inadequacies. Where does this instinct come from? Our competitive culture? Maybe I am reading this wrong, but this article definitely left a sour taste in my mouth.