[lit-ideas] Re: Obama Critique from Hanson
- From: "William Dolphin" <dolphinw@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:58:23 -0700
Thanks, Eric. As mentioned previously, I'm interested but at a disadvantage
due to current workload. Nonetheless, here are a few quick responses.
On approval ratings, my point is that the declining numbers on Pres. Obama
should assuage your and Mr. Hanson's concern about a growing cult. Same with
the memorabilia availability and pricing. Both are relatively good objective
measures of breadth of enthusiasm of the type that might be considered
cult-like. The numbers you cite for comparable days-in to the Bush and Obama
administrations would suggest that there was more of a Bush cult then than
there is an Obama cult now.
It may be that you perceive a fervor in some Obama supporters that is
different from that which Pres. Bush enjoyed among, say, evangelical
Christians with lifetime NRA memberships. But I have no idea how one might
measure that.
What I do find fascinating about the current President, and what keeps me
enthralled with Presidential campaigns, regardless of the candidates, is the
degree to which the individuals engage the symbolism of what it means to be
American.
Pres. Obama is obviously different in kind from his predecessors by virtue
of his identification with an historically oppressed minority group. Of
course, he is simultaneously a product of the established institutions of
the power elite (Columbia, Harvard Law, state legislature, US Senate). That
multiplicity is part of what he may have been alluding to when he commented
during the campaign that people project on him what they want to see. Much
of the stuff susceptible to analysis as cult-like behaviors in the populace
appears to be an outgrowth of that -- a search for markers of the cultural
moment achieved by his election, which is quite separate from much of
anything to do with the man's policies or person.
I don't have the time or stomach to follow closely the wingnutty stuff that
is being elicited by the health care debate, but I've been catching just
enough to see another, less savory (sorry David), version of that same blank
slate for projection. I would be very interested in an analysis of the
discourse around "socialism" for instance, or the birther stuff. Both seem
to me to be coded exchanges that contain far more emotional content than
fact. Dog whistles, if you will. Unfortunately, I must leave that to others
with more time than I have right now.
But the bottomline is that I don't see how the many sliding polling numbers
you cite are commensurate with a concern for a growing cult. To me, they
indicate that the "growing fears" Mr. Hanson cites without evidence is
itself a political gambit.
-Wm. Dolphin
Back to editing, but it's slow slogging through soil macronutrients, so
thanks for the break!
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Eric Yost
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 11:24 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Obama Critique from Hanson
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Bill. I've
compiled a bunch of counter-references, some
statistical, some rhetorical, some anecdotal. If
you have the patience to skim it, you might be
interested.
Bill: Public opinion polling confirms that support
for Pres. Obama [is] still posting numbers double
his predecessor's, but not exactly evidence of a
growing cult of personality.
Which poll? Double his predecessor at the same
point of their term? Not so.
_____
Poll: Obama Seen as Greater Failure than Bush
Friday, August 7, 2009 2:57 PM
A new CNN poll shows that more Americans consider
the first six months of President Barack Obama's
administration worse than the same time period of
his predecessor, former President George Bush.
When asked whether they thought the first six
months of Obama's tenure in office has been a
success or a failure, 37 percent responding to the
poll released Friday said they believe it was a
failure. After Bush's first six months in office,
a similar CNN poll from August of 2001 showed only
32 percent considered it to be a failure.
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_failure_poll/2009/08/07/245354.html
_____
August 6th, 2009
After 6 Months, More View Obama's Presidency as a
'Failure' Than Bush's
A rather surprising finding from the newly
released CNN poll. Question three on the national
survey of 1,136 adults (which includes an
oversample of African-Americans) asks, "Do you
consider the first six months of the Obama
administration to be a success or a failure?"
Thirty-seven percent (37%) said they believe the
Obama administration is a "failure," while 51%
consider it a "success" and 11% say it's still
"too soon to tell."
An identical question was asked of the Bush
administration in an August 2001 CNN/Gallup/USA
Today survey. At the time, 56% said the Bush
administration was a "success" while only 32%
considered it a "failure."
http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2009/08/06/after-6-months-more-view-
obamas-presidency-as-a-failure-than-bushs/
____
Gallup polls say the same thing at :
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116479/Barack-Obama-Presidential-Job-Approval.asp
x
_____
Bill: Of course, polling also tells us something
about those who believe that the
Obama Administration [insane partisan anti-Obama
nonsense]
On the other hand, "the Rasmussen Reports daily
Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that
31% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the
way that Barack Obama is performing his role as
President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove
giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating
of -9 (see trends)."
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration
/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Bill: how might one measure such things as "there
is a growing fear"?
____
Similarly, "Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters
nationwide believe Washington politics is likely
to become more partisan over the coming year. That
figure is up sharply from 55% a month ago and from
40% when President Barack Obama first took
office."
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/part
isan_politics
_____
An advertising age correspondent noticed the cult
tendency early in the campaign:
Wheaton: Barack Obama Building a Cult?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: When
it comes to building a brand, Obama and his team
are leaving the competition in the dust. (And to
be clear, I've also said before I'm not an Obama
supporter.) But there's a fine line between
establishing a corps of brand ambassadors and
building a cult. And there's something exceedingly
*creepy* [emphasis mine -EY] about Obama's growing
fan base. Say what you will about John McCain's
followers, but people aren't building shrines,
producing slick videos or giving the candidate a
free pass for changing his mind on issues by which
he defined himself. (McCain's taken as much heat
from disgruntled Republicans as he has from
Democrats.)
http://adage.com/campaigntrail/post?article_id=129487
_____
Then there's
The Obama cult
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14082968
IN JANUARY 2007 Mike Huckabee, a former governor
of Arkansas, said he was running for president to
revive "our national soul". He was not alone in
taking an expansive view of presidential
responsibilities. With the exception of Ron Paul,
all the serious candidates waxed grandiloquent
about their aims. John McCain said he modelled
himself on Teddy Roosevelt, a man who "nourished
the soul of a great nation". Hillary Clinton
lamented that America had no goals, and offered to
supply some. And let us not forget the man they
all sought to replace, George Bush, who promised,
among other things, to "rid the world of evil".
Appalled by such hubris, a libertarian scholar
called Gene Healy wrote "The Cult of the
Presidency", a book decrying the unrealistic
expectations Americans have of their presidents.
The book was written while Barack Obama's career
was still on the launch pad, yet it describes with
uncanny prescience the atmosphere that allowed him
to soar.
_____
For laughs, there is the extremist lefty DailyKos
offering
What would Barack Obama do?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/24/607178/-What-would-Barack-Obama-do
_____
This site collects PR images of Obama to show the
not-so-subtle associations:
http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/
_____
This right-wing site compiles examples of Obama cult:
Beware the Cult of Obama
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10082
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