Leader For Life Of The Obama Fan Club

Charles Krauthammer sees a problem where I see a reason for comfort in Obama's supreme self-regard:

Americans are beginning to notice Obama's elevated opinion of himself [I noticed!]. There's nothing new about narcissism in politics. Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Nonetheless, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?

This is a tricky attack argument - although John McCain is not Mr. Humilty he has earned some of his self-regard.

For the first few months of the campaign, the question about Obama was: Who is he? The question now is: Who does he think he is?

I think Obama has about one core belief, which is that he can talk his way past any audience and any problem.  My guess/hope is that he will be a huge disappointment to those hoping for an earnest and committed lefty.

Comments

[helen thomas]

Joseph?

your fiends told me you were dead...

Don't worry, I've been faithful.

[PaulL]

Soylent, thanks for the link to the Obama generator. Axelrod probably uses something like it.

[hit and run]

Lesley:
Some weeks ago, Kim made a very funny but prescient comment about Obama with reference to the fact that about the second night into his presidency he'd be wearing Depends to bed

McCain should reprise the Hillary 3 AM ad, but show Barack curled up in a fetal position refusing to answer the phone.

But that would be third in the series.

The first one would be a noon "lunch with allies" ad where Obama is meeting with Europeans, and ends up getting a dinner plate thrown at him (cf. a version of Elliott's speech above).

The second would be a 5 pm "negotiations with enemies" ad where Obama is meeting with the Iranians and ends up running out of the room covering his face to hide his tears, mumbling, "make the bad men stop".

Then the 3 am ad...

OK, fine. McCain can't and won't do it. Where's that damn VRWC when you need it?

[Soylent Red]

I'd like to offer an alternative ad...

Ad begins with a long shot of the back of Obamessiah, sitting in a diffused spotlight at a table at which are present maybe a half a dozen rough looking and obviously Middle Eastern and Asian men. The rest of the room is dark, but you can still make out the distinguishing apparel and races of the other figures at the table. Only Obamessiah is in the spotlight.

As the camera zooms in slowly on Obamessiah, he's speaking into a microphone in front of him and wagging his E.T. finger:

"I, uh think that uh, you're sort of misrepresenting, uh, what I've always said. And you can, uh, check my website for the facts.

So, uh, you know, this whole conversation is really, sort of, a distraction from the, uh, real issues. I have always maintained that, uh, the United States, uh has a policy of, you know, uh ..."

Obamessiah nonsense fades out as a voiceover says...

"Wouldn't you rather send a clear message to our enemies?

[Danube of Thought]

As for the claim that the Field Poll showed Davis defeating Arnold in the recall, I found this from October 3, a month before the election:

"After a dramatic shift in voter sentiment in the last week, a solid majority of likely voters favor recalling Gov. Gray Davis, while Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger has surged into the lead among candidates to replace Davis, according to a new Field Poll.

"Last week, the Field Poll showed support for Davis' ouster narrowing to 53 percent in favor and 43 percent opposed. But this week the gap widened to 57 percent for the recall, 39 percent opposed and 4 percent undecided.

"The race to replace Davis if he is removed Tuesday also has taken a sharp turn during the past week.

"It has gone from a virtual tie between Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Schwarzenegger, 31 percent to 30 percent, to a breakaway lead for Schwarzenegger, 36 percent to 26 percent."

I don't know of any organization that has historically been better than Field on the question of state propositions, which are notoriously difficult to poll. However, the more high-profile the issue is, the more likely that the pollster can get an accurate snapshot.