Pierre the Great Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Barack Obama: Could he be too popular? By Kevin McDermott POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU Saturday, Sep. 16 2006 SPRINGFIELD, ILL. For a politician, is there such a thing as too much popularity? If there's any cloud over U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's seemingly charmed political life, it may be that one. With national political pundits now using words such as "messiah" in connection with the Chicago Democrat - and one former campaign opponent calling on him to run for president - some say he could ultimately be rising so fast and high in the American consciousness that he may end up with nowhere to go but down. "It's a cliche, but it's true: The higher you go, the harder you fall," warned pollster Del Ali of Research 2000, which conducted a poll for the Post-Dispatch last month that showed Obama with an unheard-of 70 percent approval rating among Illinoisans. One rule of thumb in politics is to keep expectations low so that any mistake the politician makes looks smaller while any accomplishment looks bigger. For Obama, sitting on a runaway train of gushing publicity, that kind of "expectation control" has become impossible. "One of the obvious dangers is that no one's perfect," said Mike Lawrence, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University and a longtime Illinois political aide. "His mistakes could become magnified if the expectations are unreasonable." Obama's staff is aware of that danger. "I think, honestly, expectations became basically uncontrollable about 10 minutes after he finished his speech at the (2004 Democratic National) Convention," said Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director. "I've had people say, 'You guys should really tamp things down,' but it's hard to do." Newsweek hasn't helped. An essay published in the magazine last week described the reception that Obama received on his recent trip to Africa as "befitting a messiah." "It is not too early to pronounce Barack Obama a political phenomenon unlike any previously seen on the American scene," the essay declares. It then, nonetheless, goes on to offer a previously seen example: John F. Kennedy. Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes suggested last week that Obama could follow that path. In an unusual official statement on Thursday, Hynes pressed Obama to run for president in 2008, calling him "the person for these times." "You and you alone can best put together the broadest possible coalition with the charisma and the excitement, as well as the substance, to win," Hynes wrote in an open letter to Obama, who beat Hynes in Illinois' 2004 Democratic U.S. Senate primary. Hynes' statement went on to vow to "impress upon (Obama) the breadth of support he has throughout the country." Obama (whose office reiterated last week that he isn't running for president in 2008) hardly needs his own startling popularity impressed upon him. He has quipped about it himself, joking to reporters at a dinner in Washington in March, for example: "I want to thank you for all the generous advance coverage you've given me in anticipation of a successful career. When I actually do something, we'll let you know." By most accounts, Obama has had a strong debut in the Senate in terms of legislative accomplishments. But the continuing demand for him to appear at political events across the nation clearly is out of proportion with any mere legislative agenda. Pundits have offered various explanations for Obama's "rock star" phenomenon, from his multicultural background (immigrant Kenyan father, white Kansan mother) to his intellectual credentials (first black Harvard Law Review president, bestselling author) to his political style (optimistic and conciliatory). Obama did win a Grammy earlier this year for the spoken-word version of his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father." The moment that lit the match was his speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, which caught the attention of the national media for its eloquent statement of Democratic principles. His subsequent huge win in the Senate race in Illinois - though clearly aided by a series of self-destructing opponents - was hailed as further proof that a major new figure had stepped onto the national political stage. "One of the weirdest things I ever saw was on the day before he was sworn in" to his Senate seat, recalled Gibbs, amused, "and somebody asked him what his place in history is." Lawrence, of the SIU institute, said one trap Obama would have to watch for was not to forget the Illinois voters who put him in office - and who (assuming he runs for a second term in 2010) will decide whether to keep him there. "He doesn't get elected in Africa, he doesn't get elected in Iowa," said Lawrence. "He's in demand around the world, but he needs to make sure to stay close to the (voters of) Illinois." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortcat1 Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 (edited) Never heard of the guy before this article... But then again, up here in Sudbury, home of the Big Nickel... :king: :hlogo: :king: Edited September 17, 2006 by shortcat1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 (edited) well.... I am an Illinoisian, my girlfriend is an Illinoisian, and the rest of my immediate family are Illinoisians and we don't think he is the Messiah. but we sure do like the fellow a lot! Most of the Illinois Republicans at least have quasi respect for the guy. It is true that he had the easiest senate race in history - his first opponent was a republican named Ryan (look up "Illinois and Ryan" on google and you see the problem) who dropped out of the race because of revelations that he tried to get his tv star wife (6 of 9 on Star Trek Voyager) to have swinger/public sex in "sex clubs". No suitable Illinois republican wanted to run against Obama so the state party got Alan Keyes to run against him. Keyes is a extreme right wing (Illinois is a pretty reliable blue state) guy from Baltimore who has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth without realizing it. Keyes did comparatively little campaigning in Illinois, treating the race as a national campaign (speech tours across the country, etc) and did A LOT of national tv instead of local tv which made even illinois republicans think the guy was a jack-ass who was only running to get publicity for books, etc... He also called the Vice-president's lesbian daughter (also a republican) a "Selfish Hedonist", which nobody liked too much. Jon Stewart said it best on election night when Obama won with something like 70% of the vote - "Wow, I really thought he was going for the shutout". Oh, and it turned out that Keyes' daughter was lesbian too, and he kicked her out of the house. She was able to get a full scholarship to attend Brown. Edited September 17, 2006 by simonus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanpuck33 Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 It is true that he had the easiest senate race in history - his first opponent was a republican named Ryan (look up "Illinois and Ryan" on google and you see the problem) who dropped out of the race because of revelations that he tried to get his tv star wife (6 of 9 on Star Trek Voyager) to have swinger/public sex in "sex clubs"... Actually, she was 7 of 9, but close enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbr93 Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 I hate Bob Rae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 Actually, she was 7 of 9, but close enough. well that changes everything! Ryan for Senate! (oops) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean Posted September 17, 2006 Share Posted September 17, 2006 2004 Barack Obama (D) 70% Alan Keyes ® 27% Albert Franzen (I) 2% Jerry Kohn (L) 1% 2002 Richard J. Durbin (D) 60% Jim Durkin ® 38% 1998 Peter G. Fitzgerald ® 51% Carol Moseley-Braun (D) 47% 1996 Richard J Durbin (D) 56% Al Savi ® 41% mm Obama is doing much better than his predecessors, altough IL is clearly a democratic state to start with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre the Great Posted September 17, 2006 Author Share Posted September 17, 2006 (edited) Well I changed my avatar to him so everyone would know who he is. My family (I've talked about them before) they are from Southern Illinois around Carbondale. They are farmers. Strong strong strong conservatives, they don't like any other opinions except strong right wing ones. If you question there authority they get angry and ask you to leave. Well my grandma voted for Obama. She said he made her proud to be from Illinois. Now if my Grandma whose family never voted for a democrat except during the depression when everyone hated Hoover and voted FDR, voted for Obama you know he's a popular fellow. He's got cross state appeal. He's liked by the moderate republicans in North Chicago and the farmers in the southern part of the state. Never would I see a farmer in Southern Illinois say 'he's one of us' when talking about a politician that wasn't conservative. Edited September 17, 2006 by Pierre the Great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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