Charles Krauthammer: Obama's Altitude Sickness or Obama’s Descent to Earth

NRO ^ | September 12, 2008 | Charles Krauthammer

[Tolik]

<excerpted>

... But Palin is not just a problem for Obama. She is also a symptom of what ails him. Before Palin, Obama was the ultimate celebrity candidate. For no presidential nominee in living memory had the gap between adulation and achievement been so great. Which is why McCain's Paris Hilton ads struck such a nerve. Obama's meteoric rise was based not on issues -- there was not a dime's worth of difference between him and Hillary on issues -- but on narrative, on eloquence, on charisma.

The unease at the Denver convention, the feeling of buyer's remorse, was the Democrats' realization that the arc of Obama's celebrity had peaked -- and had now entered a period of its steepest decline. That Palin could so instantly steal the celebrity spotlight is a reflection of that decline.

It was inevitable. Obama had managed to stay aloft for four full years. But no one can levitate forever.

... The problem is that Obama began believing in his own magical powers -- the chants, the swoons, the "we are the ones" self-infatuation. Like Ronald Reagan, he was leading a movement, but one entirely driven by personality. Reagan's revolution was rooted in concrete political ideas (supply-side economics, welfare-state deregulation, national strength) that transcended one man. For Obama's movement, the man is the transcendence.

Which gave the Obama campaign a cult-like tinge. With every primary and every repetition of the high-flown, self-referential rhetoric, the campaign's insubstantiality became clear.

[Tolik]

Multiple titles for the same article

NRO:

Obama’s Descent to Earth
It’s hard to maintain a celestial conceit for four years — even if you believe it yourself.

Real Clear Politics:

Obama's Altitude Sickness

[SERKIT]

Free fall giving Barry the Bends?

[just me]

Obama is about Obama nothing else.. Just like Hillary is for Hillary....

[Da Coyote]

It’s befitting of someone who wrote his memoirs before he did anything. (Of course, he’s still not done anything...)

[nuconvert]

BUMP

[auto power]

Charles always hits the nail squarely on the head!

[Devilinbaggypants]

For no presidential nominee in living memory had the gap between adulation and achievement been so great.

It's no surprise when you look at the progressives and how they give more credibility to a teen celebrity who flunked out of high school. Thank goodness that even the MSM has started to get a bad taste in their mouths as they realize that it takes just a little more than celebrity status to manage the country!

[Tolik]

It worth reading just for enjoyment of the language alone

Charles Krauthammer:

 Obama was the ultimate celebrity candidate. For no presidential nominee in living memory had the gap between adulation and achievement been so great.

Obama's meteoric rise was based not on issues -- there was not a dime's worth of difference between him and Hillary on issues -- but on narrative, on eloquence, on charisma.

It was inevitable. Obama had managed to stay aloft for four full years. But no one can levitate forever.

The problem is that Obama began believing in his own magical powers -- the chants, the swoons, the "we are the ones" self-infatuation.

Reagan's revolution was rooted in concrete political ideas (supply-side economics, welfare-state deregulation, national strength) that transcended one man. For Obama's movement, the man is the transcendence.

Which gave the Obama campaign a cult-like tinge.

... his triumphal declaration that history would note that night, his victory, his ascension, as "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."

 That grandiloquent proclamation of universalist puffery popped the bubble. The grandiosity had become bizarre.

...One star fades, another is born.

Nailed It!

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[Graymatter]

And nailed it about 8 times with the same nail.
(Magic nail theory.)

[Tolik]

The most amazing for me in Obama phenomenon is that even people who do see that its just rhetoric and no substance still want to vote for him because they want CHANGE. Obama’s personality cult deftly exploited this, but maybe, just maybe, won't be able to get away with it after all.

[N. Theknow]

Obama needs to go to a diner in New Hampshire and tell us all about how *sniffle* difficult it is.

[N. Theknow]

Obama without a teleprompter speaks in tongues.

[shalom aleichem]

and that punk Charley Gibson accused Palin of a “blizzard of words” when she was precise and coherent without any “uh’s” and “ah’s”.

[Dr. Ursus]

His next book- I Barackus!

[Tolik]

I loved Krauthammer's language here as much as substance. Look at this quote, for example: "With her narrative, her persona, her charisma carrying the McCain campaign to places it has never been — and by all logic has no right to be — she’s pulling an Obama"

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"The problem is that Obama began believing in his own magical powers -- "

The turning point was when he didn't fly over the Brandenburg Gate after his speech in Berlin. He's been running out of tricks since then. The followers are starting to lose faith in him.

[littlehouse36]

[His next book- I Barackus!]

Perfect.

[syriacus]

Nice! Maybe Obama should run for VP.

[Tax-chick]

“Pay no attention to that man behind the empty suit ...”

[SumProVita]

“Charles always hits the nail squarely on the head!”

ALMOST always. I agree with him 98% of the time.

;-)