"Believe Again"

Obama Campaign online banner advertisement for the Houston Chronicle February 29, 2008. (Credit: Terry Ann Online)

"Believe in Obama"

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., talks with veterans gathered for a town hall-style campaign event at the American Legion Post 490 Friday, Feb. 29, 2008, in Houston, Texas. [Prior "curiously framed" photos of Obama by Reuters here (02/11/08) and here (01/18/08) -- what are they trying to tell us?

"Obama is inspiring us like a Desert Lover"

Barack Obama is inspiring us like a desert lover, a Washington Valentino. We who have felt apathetic, angry at two (likely) stolen elections, K-Street hegemony, the "pornography of the trivial" in journalism and culture; we who are heartbroken over a war we knew was wrong, we who thought (especially after Baby Bush got in a 2nd time) that America got what it asked for; we who stopped wanting to participate 'cause it doesn't matter whether we do or don't; we have a crush. We're talking about it; we're getting involved, we're tuning in and turning out in numbers we haven't seen in ages. My musician friends and I are writing songs to inspire people and couples all over America are making love again and shouting "yes we can" as they climax!

Lili Haydn, Huffington Post February 29, 2008.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks at a rally in Selma, Texas February 29, 2008. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., makes remarks during an outdoor rally Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, in San Marcos, Texas. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

"He's running a THEOLOGICAL campaign . . . at some point, he took off his arms, and grew wings

DAYTON, Ohio – As Barack Obama got into the meat of his speech Monday at a packed arena, he sounded more like preacher than politician.

"My bet has been paid off. My faith in the American people has been vindicated," he said as a few audience members yelled "Well!" and "Preach, brother!"

Throughout his Ohio tour, he's averaged crowds of 14,000. He had 17,000 at Reunion Arena in Dallas and 18,000 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Many had come just to hear him speak. Some cried. Others just waved their hands.

"He's running a theological campaign," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who ran for president in 1984 and 1988. "At some point, he took off his arms and grew wings."

"He's very inspirational and he's very credible," said Nicole Baptiste, a 26-year-old Dayton resident who works for an information and news database company. "In our country, it's exactly what's needed."

Victor Iseli, a 77-year-old retired General Motors worker from Dayton, said Mr. Obama is more than a hope peddler.

"What he says, he will do as president," said Mr. Iseli, who spoke to Mr. Obama in a native Indonesian language after a rally."Many Hopefully Devoted to Obama The Dallas Morning News February 26, 2008.

"He's All Things to All Men"

. . . scattered attempts so far to take a detailed tough look at Obama's career have "barely caused a ripple."

They included a Time magazine piece on Obama's penchant for sidestepping issues in the Illinois senate by voting "present" and a look at how he watered down a bill affecting a nuclear power company that contributed to his campaign.

It's hard to imagine that any new such revelations would put a dent in the feverish support of many who find it hard to explain his grip.

"Obama has this almost irrational following and I myself can't sometimes explain why I'm supporting him," Noah Norman, 25, recently told the Washington Post.

"He's all things to all men. At least that's how I put it."

The Canadian Press, February 26, 2008

"I Have a Pint-Sized Obamaphile"

. . . I have a pint sized Obamaphile — or should that be Obama-bhakta (bhakta in Sanskrit means devotee) in deference to her Indian roots? — in the household. These days, he is included in J’s morning prayers, which is an honor normally reserved for things and people closest to her heart. She has been following his fortunes in the primaries for a while now and has managed to suck me into it as well.

Obamaphilia is quite contagious as it turns out. Thanks to my daughter, I keep an eye on CNN for the latest on Obama because J’s need for information on him is insatiable. . . .

Obamamania has done what the combined inducements of PBS, Discovery, Cartoon Network, and, I will grudingly admit, Netflix, failed to do. I asked her a few days ago if the timing of the debate coincided with the weekend of her play date which one she would pick. “The debate of course,” she replied. “Why?” I asked incredulously. “Because it is so interesting. Play dates are all the same,” she explained like it should have been self-evident to me.

And it is not only debates she likes. She has had me dig up old Obama speeches from YouTube. The man just has to talk and J is all mesmerized. She sits transfixed and watches him like she were in a hypnotic trance. . . .

As for me, I can't wait for this to be over so J can go back to being the kid who loved High School Musical and waited all week for Friday to come along so she could have a play date. Life would return to normal – maybe in Obama-speak that would be “business as usual” and not the change that he exhorts everyone to be and participate in. Until then I will have to cope with J chanting “Go Obama” the best I can.

Underage Obamaphilia BlogCritics.org. February 23, 2008 | Matthew 18: 3-4

Elsewhere: "Obama Babies" on YouTube

"Barack Obama is the Hope of the Entire World"

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Sunday that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the "hope of the entire world" that the U.S. will change for the better.

The 74-year-old Farrakhan, addressing an estimated crowd of 20,000 people at the annual Saviours' Day celebration, never outrightly endorsed Obama but spent most of the nearly two-hour speech praising the Illinois senator.

"This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better," he said. "This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama's audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed."

Farrakhan compared Obama to the religion's founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father.

"A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," he told the crowd of mostly followers. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."

A Spry Farrakhan Sings Obama's Praises Associated Press. February 24, 2008.

"a band plays 'Obama-alujah' and thousands stand in the chill night ready to be rapturous"

Mr. Obama is on an electoral roll, polls show him pulling closer in Ohio and Texas, crowds show him the Big Celebrity Love, what’s not to like? A touch of cockiness is discernable in his manner now; he is like a gambler convinced his every dice roll will come up double sixes.

His rally in Austin, Tex., on Friday evening fitted his hoped-for-narrative. Fifteen-thousand people, maybe 20,000, jam into the streets in front of the soaring State Capitol, with the usual Obama-as-electoral-rave giddiness. University of Texas guys with painted faces flash the longhorn symbol with their fingers, red-white-and-blue beach balls bounce through the crowd, a band plays “Obama-alujah” and thousands stand in the chill night ready to be rapturous. . . .

On Center Stage, a Candidate Letting His Confidence Show New York Times February 24, 2008.

Dawn had not broken, and yet the television images showed Dallas' Reunion Arena and a long line of silhouetted people already gathering for an event not scheduled until noon.

They were awaiting the messianic figure of a presidential candidate who had just added two more wins to his victory column and who the night before had ignited a crowd of about 20,000 in Houston.

Barack Obama was coming to town. . . .

Inside the arena, the unprompted crowd was yelling, "O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!" a full 90 minutes before the candidate would appear. And just like at sporting events there in days gone by, one section spontaneously led the others in the "wave."

"Old" warriors such as longtime community leader Rene Martinez and activist Roy Williams marveled at the enthusiasm among the diverse audience and said they had never seen anything quite like this.

"If I died today, it would be all right," Williams told me, indicating he was witnessing something he never expected he would live to see.

Parents had taken their children out of school because they were keenly aware this was a special moment in history. Some high school kids from Fort Worth had skipped classes and taken the early train to Dallas.

When finally taking the stage, Obama basked in the outpouring of affection as his followers stood in awe of the man whom they had waited so long to behold. He was well into his speech when he thought to remind the crowd that it was all right for them to sit down as he delivered the rest of his comments.

Some have made fun of his charismatic nature, inspirational tone and continual reference to hope. Many wonder if that wonderment and glorified exuberance can last through the rest of the campaign.

Well, based on what I saw, this movement won't peak until November.

Bob Ray Sanders, Star Telegram February 24, 2008.

"... an almost mesmeric fervour ..."

Mary Tyszko, a white, 50-year-old health worker, clutched her hands. “He has given me hope. I really believe in him. And I just trust him.”

Then Mr Obama took to the stage. The noise was deafening, a long, exultant roar with all the force and overwhelming power of a jet engine before take-off. “Obama! Obama! Obama! Obamaaaaaaaaa!” they chanted

From four giant screens hanging from the ceiling, Mr Obama’s image could be seen from the farthest reaches of the stadium, waving, clapping at this adoring crowd, as they stared up at him with an almost mesmeric fervour. At one point in his speech, delivered in the religious cadence of Dr King, Mr Obama had to blow his nose. “Obama!” they chanted and clapped again, as their idol wiped his face.

This is a daily ritual for Mr Obama. Only 24 hours earlier, he appeared in a Mexican-American enclave of western San Antonio and drew a crowd as big as that which greeted Pope John Paul II when he visited the same area in September 1987. . . . he is greeted by massive crowds, never before seen during a presidential primary campaign, filled with young and old, black and white, men and women, steelworkers and fund managers, nurses and accountants. No wonder he believes the White House is now within his reach.

Tim Reid, The Times [UK] February 23, 2008.

"What if God is trying to make a statement?"

In the last generation, a motivated, organized "religious right" has flexed its considerable muscle in both electing candidates and shaping American public policy.

But what if God is trying to make a statement in 2008 through the meteoric rise of a new symbol -- a charismatic, eloquent senator from Illinois who is turning conventional American politics on its head? That food for thought will form the basis of Sunday's sermon by Pastor John Van Sloten at New Hope Church, . . .

Van Sloten admits he's become an unabashed fan of Barack Obama after watching his TV speeches and reading his book The Audacity of Hope.

"I know Obama has been criticized for being all about vague ideals and not about specific policies," Van Sloten says.

"But unless you have ideals, nothing is going to change. You have to be able to dream outside the box."

Sunday sermon cheers rise of Obama, by Graeme Morton, Calgary Herald. February 23, 2008.

"Obama will DEMAND that you shed your cynicism"

Barack Obama WILL REQUIRE YOU to work. He is going to DEMAND that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation and that you move out of your comfort zone. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage.


Barack will NEVER ALLOW YOU to go back to your lives as usual – uninvolved, uninformed – you have to stay at the seat at the table of democracy with a man like Barack Obama not just on Tuesday but in a year from now, in four years from now, in eights years from now, YOU WILL HAVE TO BE ENGAGED.

Michelle Obama, campaign speech at UCLA (links to video, audio @ Protein Wisdom)

"It was more like church . . ."

Maybe it was the representation of youth in the crowd that lends the oft-cited air of a rock concert that has been attributed to Obama rallies.

But that wasn't quite it, not entirely. It was more like church – not the stuffy kind, but roof-shaking soul church where people testify and dance in the aisles when the spirit's upon them.

"It's electric! Can't you feel it?" said one man, who told me he was headed for work at the IRS after the rally. I could feel it, because it's a fundamental element of crowd psychology that the expectation of "electricity" creates it. . . .

The main event, of course, was the speech, which I have heard before. I just sat back and felt the key phrases wash over the crowd: "new," "change," "Kennedy," "Scooter Libby justice," "wiretaps," "Katrina."

The lady sitting next to me dipped into a bucket of popcorn and murmured the phrases back: " 'If you believe.' 'The time is now.' That's right," she agreed.

She was a little disappointed, in fact, when the rally ended: "Why didn't he do, 'Yes we can'?" she asked a friend, as if a concert had ended, the biggest hit not performed.

Life of the party: Obama's supporters rock Reunion Arena Dallas Morning News February 21, 2008.

* * *

. . . about a half-hour into a speech here, the Illinois Democrat announced that he had to take a quick break. "Gotta blow my nose here for a second," Obama said.

Out came a Kleenex (or perhaps it was a hankie), and he wiped his nose.

The near-capacity audience at the Reunion Arena, which his campaign said totaled 17,000, broke out in a slightly awkward applause.

John McCormick, The Baltimore Sun | Obama Blows His Nose, Crowd Goes Wild Video Footage

"consumated by a handshake . . . the OBAMA handshake"

I felt the crowd down front tighten as many of us stood on our toes, stretched our bodies forward while reaching out to Barack. I noticed that a six foot tall guy who was standing in front of me had stretched far enough above the crowd and shook hands with Barack. As the guy drew back his hand I asked him, "You shook his hand didn't you?" Happily the guy said "Yes." I then said, "give me some of that" and the guy shook my hand with the same hand he had just clasped with Barack's. A woman friend of mine who was standing next to me saw me shake hands with the guy. I turned to her and said "He [the guy] just shook hands with Barack," to which she responded..."Hey, give it up." We then shook hands. She then turned to the person next to her and shook hands. This chain of hand shakes went on for about five or six more persons.

I did not know the tall guy in front of me; he is white, I am black. But at the moment we shook hands, I felt some solidarity with this stranger, consummated by a handshake and signifying some unspoken agreement presumably about Barack Obama and his core message of UNITY!

I call this hand-shake scenario the "BAM" because, descriptively, it takes a bit of Obama's name and it's the sound of a collision, of People Coming Together!

"The "BAM"...The OBAMA Handshake!" My.BarackObama.Com (Campaign Website)

Supporters reach out to touch the hand of democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) after he spoke at a rally in Dallas, Texas February 20, 2008.

"Politics doesn't even begin to describe it. A visit to an Obama rally is a pilgrimage"

DAVID WRIGHT: We've been to dozens of huge rallies like this in dozens of states and with every victory, Obama's congregation seems to be growing. If you've never been to an Obama rally before, a word of advice, go early. Think Springsteen concerts, but the tickets are free. First come, first serve. In Boise, Idaho, a few weeks back it couldn't have been more than 15 degrees out. But outside Taco Bell Arena early on a Saturday morning, everyone waited patiently because inside--

OBAMA: If you arrive together, we will remake this country and we will remake the world.

WRIGHT: --inside, they felt the warm glow of hope.

OBAMA: Keep me in your prayers. You know, make sure that everybody is praying and give me that protective blanket over it.

WRIGHT: Obama's true believers respond as though they've spent their whole lives out in the cold. At rally after rally, a few people literally faint.

OBAMA: [Montage of Obama reacting to fainting]: Is somebody okay? Did somebody just get faint? It looks like we have somebody who may have fainted. Hold on a second, young lady. Are you okay? Why don't you sit down though.

WRIGHT: Politics doesn't even begin to describe it. A visit to an Obama rally is a pilgrimage.
[...]
WRIGHT: From Boise to Baltimore, he's winning them over. For you, is it even a close call between him and Hillary Clinton?

SECOND OBAMA SUPPORTER (FEMALE): Not at all. Because, as he said, she is the past, he is the future and the present. You know, you have to move forward.

OBAMA: There is a moment in the life of every generation, if it is to make its mark on history, where that spirit of hope has to come through.

WRIGHT: From the looks on their faces, they're yearning to hear stuff like that. As though they've waited for so long, they've almost lost hope. And now he comes along.

OBAMA: But we spend our whole lives caught up in being told what we can't do. And what's not possible, and that children have to be poor and race always is going to matter in this country and there's always going to be injustice and the economy can never work for anybody. We're fed that stuff all the time. Mostly by folks who are in power and take advantage of the status quo.
[...]

WRIGHT: Some testimonials are nostalgic for an era when hope didn't seem so naive. Others imagined what has never been and asked why not.

OPRAH WINFREY: Disappointment doesn't have to be normal anymore. For the first time, I'm stepping out of my pew because I've been inspired.

OBAMA: Thank you, Oprah. And I love you.

WRIGHT: At this point, the bar is so high even the believers are starting to doubt he can pull it off.

STEIN: We know we're being fooled, but we kind of like it. I can't get off his ride, it's too good.

WRIGHT: The potential for disappointment is as big as Texas. People's hopes have been raised so high. Young people hoping that Obama can redeem politics from mere partisanship, black people hoping he can finally achieve Martin Luther King's dream. White people hoping he can redeem America from the sins of slavery and segregation. It is hard to see how any politician, a mere human, can achieve all that, but it will be very interesting to watch.

-- ABC Nightline Correspondent David Wright; Video / MP3 Audio (via Scott Whitlock @ NewsBusters.Org)

"I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear"

BALTIMORE — Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings has held elected office for more than a quarter-century, so he's seen his fair share of politicians come and go.

But apparently he's never seen one quite like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

"This is not a campaign for president of the United States, this is a movement to change the world," he said as he introduced Obama last week in Baltimore.

"You do not get 13,000 people in this auditorium with a campaign."

As over the top as it may have sounded, Cummings' sentiments weren't all that unusual.

Because when it comes to Obama, hyperbole seems to be the rule, not the exception.

His charms seem tough to resist, even for some of Hollywood’s biggest names.

"He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere, anywhere," George Clooney told talk show host Charlie Rose.

"I'll do whatever he says to do," actress Halle Berry said to the Philadelphia Daily News. "I'll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear."

[...]

The true believers can “Obama-ize” just about anything. Knitters for Obama crochet for him, Runners for Obama jog for him, and Hold 'Em Barack, well, they bet on him.

In Chicago, a recent art exhibit showed works depicting the candidate on canvas, paper and even in animated videos.

On Etsy, a crafts auction website, you can buy Obama jewelry, paintings, and even a homemade Obama Valentine. The card shows a sketch of the candidate with the text, "I want to Barack your world."

Last week, Obama attracted a crowd of 19,000 to the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

Four days earlier, more than 18,000 voters filled Seattle's Key Arena to see him.

The 3,000 that didn't get in waited in the cold for over an hour to hear a roughly two-minute version of his stump speech.

When Obama finally took the stage, the crowd roared so loudly that a local reporter in the press section covered her ears.

At an Omaha, Neb., rally the day before, supporters leaned perilously over railings, screaming and crying, trying to touch Obama as he passed.

During both speeches, a supporter yelled out, "I love you." This happens fairly frequently and Obama is always ready with a smooth answer.

"I love you back," he says, with a quick, almost cocky smile.

The campaign works hard to cultivate the rock star image. After he's introduced, Obama routinely waits about 30 seconds to enter the arena.

The excitement grows, until his entrance is perfectly timed with the soaring chords of U2's “City of Blinding Lights.”

"I can't really verbalize exactly what it is about him," says Avila. "Part of it is just beyond explanation."

Lisa Lehrer, Politico Feb 20, 2008.

"It was like Barack Obama was INSIDE her head"

For Christena Weatherspoon of Struthers, it was like Barack Obama was inside her head.

After the Democratic presidential candidate’s 45-minute address to at Youngstown State University, Weatherspoon said she was speechless. She said, "It was like he knows what I want."

She was not alone in the crowd of about 6,800 supporters who packed Beeghly Center for Obama’s first campaign rally in Ohio and responded enthusiastically to his message of "hope and change."

William Binning, retired political science professor at YSU, called Obama a "phenomenon" . . .

"This guy has drawn in a whole new layer of support," Binning said. "For the youth here, this is the most significant political event of their lives."

As if to prove Binning’s point, Jared Jacobs, 17, drove all the way from Ashtabula to see Obama. Jacobs, who said he will be 18 in time to vote in the November election, said, "I’ll never forget this. It’s one of the best moments of my life."

Obama brings message of Hope, by Stephen Oravecz. Tribune-Chronicle February 19, 2008.

"the source of new hope on a parched land -- as rain from a Kenyan cloud"

Barack Obama, . . . has come like rain on American politics.

His campaign theme - 'the source of new hope on a parched land' is a cleansing agent in a land weighed down by crusted blood of Iraqis murdered in their own territory by Americans who came to save them from "weapons of mass destruction".

Obama has come as rain from a Kenyan cloud that seeded in the plains of Iowa and fell in Hawaii, but refuses to be tied down as just another "black candidate" pushing primarily for the restoration of justice for African-Americans by reminding white America of its guilt.

Instead, he insists on the freedom of a collective American Messiah who has come to mobilise all disillusioned children of American democracy to open up a new frontier in politics. This is Obama's venture of building hope using the power of hope.

Like rain, Obama must rouse new winds that will blow away drought, which drought will not depart without a fight. . . .

Barack Obama is uniquely placed to support the fruition of this dream knowing, as he now does, the sublime challenges of conducting political rain on a scale as grand, in terrestrial and human space, as the United States of America. May his rain come down to sprout a Union of Africa. To which some Nigerians say "Amen."

Okello Oculi, Daily Monitor AllAfrica.com. February 20, 2008.

"Out of One, many rise to Believe Again"

Opponents want to dismiss that optimism as "false hope" because they think - or pretend to think - that Barack Obama represents no more than a charismatic political slogan that has even less value than one of the worthless products brilliantly hawked around the clock throughout our media.

Barack Obama is actually a bluesman from Chicago whose big stage is not in a nightclub or a concert hall but the huge national podium on which politics are argued. Obama knows that the blues always present the unvarnished problem and provide a solution through the rhythms and tones of engagement. It is, as the writer Albert Murray has observed, a music of confrontation, and it is presented in what amounts to a purification ritual.

Stanley Crouch, NY Daily News February 18, 2008

"the most powerful remobilization of historical and contemporary perspectives since the Popular Front movement"

In many ways, [Obama's] language recalls that of Walt Whitman whose Leaves of Grass sought to develop a synthetic construction of what America was like as a nation, linking together a range of individual experiences, memories, perspectives, sense impressions, to create a vision of the nation as one big organism. . . .

Obama is charting a map of the future by mobilizing what is most valuable, most precious in the nation's past. In doing so, he is constructing a shared mythology which speaks to us across historic divides in our national consciousness. Nothing could be further removed, say, than Edward's talk of 'Two Americas.' In Obama's version, there are at once many Americas, each self contradictory and refusing to be reduced to stereotypes, and one America, a collective intelligence ready to process all of that diversity and arrive at shared solutions to shared problems. . . .

Think of the speech as a mash-up of JFK, RFK, Ceasar Chavez, and Walt Whitman, delivered with the candences of Martin Luther King. Think of it as thus a new synthetic mythology for a new kind of knowledge culture. It may be the most powerful remobilization of historical and contemporary perspectives since the Popular Front movement of the 1930's. . . . My hope is that Obama's rhetoric may evoke a similar response in future generations and in that sense, it will be, to use a word Obama likes to talk about, 'transformative.'

Harry Jenkins, MIT "Obama and the 'We' Generation February 18, 2008.

Obama - "A Gift This Country Needs"

If you're wondering why Sen. Barack Obama's message of hope has resonated with so many voters across the country, consider the shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University.

Despite a decade of school shootings, we are never prepared for the horror of someone opening fire on innocent people, then taking his or her own life.

How is it that we live in a country where a young man can get his hands on four weapons, including a shotgun?

Why are people walking around armed to the teeth?

The only reason I can think of is that too many people have LOST HOPE.

We are living at a time when depression seems to be as common as a cold or flu. Yet what is depression but an impenetrable cloud of HOPELESSNESS?

[...]

Since [the Virginia Tech mass shooting], many parents of college-aged students have had to turn to their faith.

On the stump, however, Obama has had to defend his faith, and jokes about his critics calling him a "hopemonger." But Obama's ability to inspire people -- in urban areas as well as in rural towns -- is a gift the country needs.

Young people are killing each other in the ghettos as well as in our nation's universities. So it's not just drug wars or street gangs driving the violence.

But while young people are dying as martyrs, adults with the power to make a difference are still arguing over the merits of gun control.

Obama is surging ahead because a lot of people are tired of believing they are powerless to heal an ailing nation.

Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times February 17, 2008. (Via Say Anything).

* * *

School shootings = Hopelessness
Obama = Hope
Obama's Presidency = School shootings

Martin Luther King = Nelson Mandela = Barack Obama

As reported by the Huffington Post, the New York Times Bill Keller compares Obama to Nelson Mandela:

The executive editor of The New York Times, Bill Keller, sees "unmistakable" similarities between the campaigns of Barack Obama and Nelson Mandela, he said in a podcast interview on the paper's website.

The interview, done for the New York Times Book Review, is on the subject of Keller's young adult biography of Nelson Mandela, whom he covered. Asked about Obama, Keller calls him "fascinating."

From the audio transcript of the interview with Ben Keller, kindly via Ben Smith @ Politico:

You want to be careful about drawing historical parallels between societies that are so different, but there are a couple of similarities that, if you watch what happened South Africa, that are unmistakable in the Obama campaign.

One is the inspirational quality of it. Mandela, like Obama, although he wasn’t always the most riveting public speaker, was the kind of speaker who didn’t dwell on the details of his ten-point program, but went for emotional lift. He was appealing to the higher sense of purpose and history in his public appearances, as Obama does.

And the other thing is that both of them, in a way, transcended race — at least, to a degree transcended race. Colin Powell used to use this line when people used to try to draw him into conversations abot race and what it was like to be the first black secretary of state, the first black this, the first black that, and he would say, "I ain’t that black."

And what I think what he meant by that was not just that he was light-skinned, but that he didn’t grow up as preoccupied by race as a lot of other African-Amercans who rose to prominence. And something of the same thing can be said about either Mandela or Obama — that they somehow rose above race while still clearly being black.

As to be expected, Cynics and Doubters are interjecting that this is only a comparison of Obama's presidential campaign, not a comparison of the men themselves.

However, inasmuch as the campaigns are extensions of the campaigner, we suspect Keller may be simply tuning into an already-present Obasmic Vibe permeating the ranks of his followers. Consider:

• A mural of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Obama Barack by an artist circa. the CNN Democratic Debates. From the interview with the artist (MP3 download):

  [Artist:] "We wanted to do some kind of piece that illustrates his campaign and the change that America, the whole world is having. Barack's going to be the next person to take us to -- the next spot. Barack's going to bring the whole unit-, unit- the whole nation together - NO MORE Red States, NO MORE Blue States, ONE NATION."
  

  [In response to the question: What does Obama do that you feel warrants a comparison?]
  

  "Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King were both revolutionary figures. They did it because they were passionate about what they were doing. Barack's the same way. He hasn't been a senator for that long. But you know he's coming in here, he's doing it because he wants to, but also because he feels like he's CHOSEN to do this. You know our nation right now needs something, needs some CHANGE, needs something to SHAKE THINGS UP."
  

  [In response to the question: "You've obviously listened to a speech or two of his. What do you feel when he's speaking?]
  

  "Honestly, he gives me chills. When you listen to him, the only other person that can compare is Martin Luther King Jr.

  
  

• From Barack-Obama.TV, a podcast interview in which Obama "discusses his tour of Robben Island prison where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life and still maintained his spirit and vision." September 9, 2006.
  

• Obama's First Coming (The Australian February 9, 2008), in which Washington correspondent Geoff Elliott recalls:

  IT was early 1994 when Nelson Mandela gave a speech in a slum outside Cape Town and spoke in grand terms of a new beginning and how when he was elected president every household would have a washing machine.
  People took him literally. A few months later he became South Africa's first black president. That's when clerks in department stores in Cape Town had to turn people away demanding their free washer and dryer.
  

  Having spent some time as a reporter in South Africa watching the Mandela presidency I was reminded of that story this week when I travelled with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on the campaign trail.
  

  How does a cult figure, in the eyes of some something akin to a messiah, make the transition to a political frontrunner - president even - where disappointment will soon crush what seemed to be a journey to a promised land?
  

  Looking into the faces of a more than 16,000-strong crowd in a basketball stadium in Hartford, Connecticut this week, the Mandela magic I'd seen before was there too. Black and white, and the youth; they appeared in a state close to rapture watching Obama speak. Here and there one could see women crying and the some men wiping away tears too.

  
  

"Become One with Obama"

Obama Fan Poster, February 2007

Obama Saves Fainting Woman, ... er, Women!

In the news this week, at five different campaign stops 5 different women fainted (See James Taranto's "We Shall Be Overcome" Wall Street Journal 2/14/08 for a precise chronology), prompting Obama's attention and in some cases the bestowal of a water bottle.

Now, the usual cynics and unbelievers are dismissing this as "phoney, orchestrated, manufactured campaign theatrics", or even "physiological coincidence".

True Believers, on the other hand, will recognize this as yet another heavenly-bestowed opportunity for Obama to reveal his benevolent compassion -- or, as one YouTube.com post captioned the event: "Obama SAVES" (Girl from Hyperventilating and Dehydration!)

"We have to fix our SOULS - Our souls are BROKEN"

Michelle Obama, wife of US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), watches him as he makes his remarks at his "Super Tuesday" primary election night rally in Chicago, Illinois, February 5, 2008.

We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another — that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these. That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the ONLY person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation.

Via "Michelle Obama's Vision of America" (Hugh Hewitt, February 15, 2008).

"The Obamapalooza is a Once-In-a-Lifetime Spectacle"

It is not simply Obama's crowd numbers that dazzle, but also the fervor.

Many people, women in particular, are excited about the prospects of Clinton becoming the first female president. But many of Obama's listeners — black, white, young, old — seem almost in awe, and they often talk of being part of history.

Some shout "I love you" as he talks. A few quietly weep. When he takes the stage, the roar is often deafening.

Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat covered both candidates and tried to describe the difference. In a Feb. 9 article he said Clinton "was impressive" at her Seattle rally, "with a speech packed with policy specifics and a certain intangible steeliness that signals she's got what it takes to be president."

But "the Obamapalooza," he wrote, "is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle."

Obama crowds pack arenas 9 months before election — will they mean votes in November? International Herald Tribune February 15, 2008.

"This Promise moves Obama's fans close to Rapture"

"The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders," he says in that beautiful baritone of his. "It is not about rich versus poor, young versus old. And it is not about black versus white."

What voters are really choosing, he says, is between the past and the future.

The future to which he refers, of course, is him. He will take Americans to a colour-blind, rational, humanist place where a common good will overpower narrow self-interest.

This promise moves Obama's fans close to rapture.

Neil MacDonald, CBCNews.com February 14, 2008.

"He empowers us with words ... People are rushing into the tent to drink that Magic Water"

... We finally have a candidate in Barack Obama who uses the word "We" while others use "I." He empowers us with words and the authentic emotion behind them and people are rushing into the tent to drink that magic water.

Candor, inclusiveness, poetry, and inspiration. We don't only deserve those things, we long for them. We want to be led and we want to be lifted and anyone who doesn't understand that simply doesn't understand us.

Michael Sietzman, Huffington Post February 14, 2008.

"An Agent of Transformation ... He is not operating on the same plane as ordinary politicans"

Through some miracle of timing, luck, and good fortune Barack Obama has seized the moment. His mantra of "change" has been largely co-opted by lesser figures. He is in fact an agent of transformation. He is not operating on the same plane as ordinary politicians, and this makes him seem elusive to the conventional press and the traditional politicians. His instinct for the moment and the times is orders of magnitude more powerful than the experience claimed by others. Experience in the old ways is irrelevant experience.

In an age of great transformation, experience of the past is worthless because it is a barrier to the breakthrough gesture, the instant response in crisis, the instinctive bold decision in the face of totally new circumstances.

Some see Barack Obama as the long awaited champion finally come to slay the awful dragon of race. And they are right. Some see him as a new start for the Democratic Party and national politics. And they are right. Some see him as the walking embodiment of internationalism, ready to restore an honorable and respected place for America in the world. And they are right.

I see Barack Obama as a leader for this transcendent moment, the agent of transformation in an age of revolution, as a figure uniquely qualified to open the door to the 21st century and to convert threat to great new opportunity.

Gary Hart, Huffington Post February 13, 2008

The Culmination of American History?

Nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened unless somebody, somewhere is willing to hope. Somebody is willing to stand up.

Somebody who is willing to stand up when they are told "No you can't" and instead they say, "Yes we can."

That's how this country was founded. A group of patriots declaring independence against a mighty British empire—nobody gave them a chance—but they said, "Yes we can." That's how slaves and abolitionists resisted that wicked system, and how a new president charted a course to ensure we would not remain half slave and half free.

That's how the greatest generation—my grandfather fighting in Patton's Army, my grandmother staying at home with a baby and still working on a Bomber assembly line—how that greatest generation overcame Hitler and fascism, and also lifted themselves up out of a Great Depression.

That's how pioneers went West when people told them it was dangerous, they said, "Yes we can."

That's how immigrants traveled from distant shores when people said their fates would be uncertain, "Yes we can."

That's how women won the right to vote, how workers won the right to organize, how young people like you traveled down South to march and sit in and go to jail, and some were beaten and some died for freedom's cause.

That's what hope is. That's what hope is.

That's what hope is, Madison.

That moment when we shed our fears and our doubts. When we don't settle for what the cynics tell us we have to accept. Because cynicism is a sorry sort of wisdom. When we instead join arm in arm and decide we are going to remake this country, block by block, precinct by precinct, county by county, state by state. That's what hope is.

There's a moment in the life of every generation, when that spirit has to come through if we are to make our mark on history. And this is our moment. This is our time.

Barack Obama - Madison, WI Victory Speech [Video] February 12, 2008.

American Revolutionaries ->
  Manifest Destiny ->
      Slaves/Abolitionists ->
        Suffragettes ->
          the Labor Movement ->
            the Greatest Generation ->
              the Civil Rights Movement ->
Obama

(Via Jonathan Stein @ Mother Jones February 13, 2008).

"The New Hope"

"A Metaphysical Force"

"Barack Obama is a metaphysical force in American politics," Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, said on CNN Tuesday night. For Clinton, Brazile asked, "Where is the joy? Campaigns are supposed to be about joy." Brazile added it may now be difficult for Clinton to stop Obama’s "wave of support."

Associated Press, February 12, 2008.

"I felt this thrill going up my leg . . ."

I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often. No, seriously. It's a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment.

Chris Matthews, MSNBC [MP3 Recording | Video February 12, 2008.

Women Scream for Obama!

College Park, Maryland - You can see it in their flushed-face smiles and hear it in their screams. They say the phenomenon is difficult to describe, but once they experience it they tell their friends, sisters, mothers and daughters, and they come back for more if they can.

"He's very charismatic. It was a 'you-had-to-be-there' kind of experience," said Lolita Breckenridge, 37, after hearing Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama address a packed rally at the University of Maryland on Monday.

A dedicated supporter, she brought two of her friends to hear the Illinois senator deliver one of his much-talked-about speeches.

"Not too much of the speech was new to me," she admitted. "But hearing him live..." she trailed off, shaking her head and grinning.

When Obama addressed the crowd of 16 000 on the eve of primaries which he is tipped to win in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, he carried himself with his habitual worldly confidence, interspersed talk of foreign policy with recollections of his childhood and even poked political fun at his Republican adversaries.

He did not flinch when women screamed as he was in mid-sentence, and even broke off once to answer a female's cry of "I love you Obama!" with a reassuring: "I love you back."

Women 'falling for Obama' News24.com February 12, 2008.

"That Feeling you get in His Presence . . ."

Supporters began lining up outside the Comcast Center in the frosty pre-dawn hours. Doors opened at 9:30 a.m., but Obama didn't take the stage until 1 p.m. In the interim, the giddy crowd, which including retirees, college students and families with babies in tow, danced to Motown tunes and hip-hop hits.

"He's electrifying," said Tamil Lloyd, 30, of Capital Heights, who stood in her front row seat for Obama's entire speech. "I heard him speak at Prince George's Community College last fall and afterward, I thought, 'How could anyone not vote for him?'"

Lloyd, who arrived with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law at the arena at 7:30 a.m. - five hours before Obama took the stage - said the family was still working on her converting her husband, a Clinton devotee.

"Oh, he's going to vote for him," she said. "His mother said so."

Linda Hollidge, 61, of Round Hill, Va., admitted she attended the rally to see if Obama would live up to his hype.

"I wanted to see if I got that feeling they say you get in his presence," she said. "Our country hasn't felt it in a hell of a long time." . . .!"

Obama gets rock-star welcome in Baltimore, at UM, Kelly Brewington and Tom Pelton. Baltimore Sun February 12, 2008.

"Believe in Obama"

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks at a campaign rally at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland February 11, 2008. (Jim Young/Reuters)

"Change We Can Believe In"

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN

It started moving in whispers,
spread across and spoken by our youth,
what many missed,
the spark of a movement.

He is the son of a Kenyan,
born in a country of immigrants,
Opportunity - he lives the American Dream

CHANGE - we can believe in,
WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR,
Not since the days of JFK and Martin Luther King
have we been inspired to hope and dream this way!

So you have to look at yourself,
Have the cynics thrown you astray?
We'll be the voice to determine our fate.
We've got a chance, We can make it,
With your support, We'll be patient,
GET OFF THE COUCH - JOIN ME IN HARMONY!

(sing it with me)

CHANGE! we can believe in,
It's time - don't get left behind,
CHANGE! we can believe in,
The Movement grows from home to home

CHANGE - we can believe in,
WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR,
Not since the days of JFK and Martin Luther King
have we been inspired to hope and dream this way!

CHANGE - WE CAN BELIEVE IN
Oh yeah, CHANGE!
Yes I can
Yes You Can
Yes We Can

"The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands"

Looking into the faces of a more than 16,000-strong crowd in a basketball stadium in Hartford, Connecticut this week, the Mandela magic I'd seen before was there too. Black and white, and the youth; they appeared in a state close to rapture watching Obama speak. Here and there one could see women crying and some men wiping away tears too. [...]

But Obama is part politician, part cult. Supporters wearing T-shirts with an Andy Warhol like pop-art image of his face testify to that. But then they - him - were once easy to dismiss until people realised Obama's charisma was being matched by one of the most sophisticated ground operations ever seen. It is one that is outsmarting the Clinton machine. He's marrying inspiration and cult with old-fashioned political grunt.

One would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by Obama on the stump. It's not so much by what he says but it's the way the crowds respond to his words. When 16,000 people, without prompting, start shouting some of his keynote phrases as he delivers them, you know something special is going on.

The atmosphere at his events is such that one wonders if Obama is about to walk out with a basket with some loaves and fishes to feed the thousands.

- Washington correspondent Geoff Elliott. The Australian February 9, 2008.

A big black vehicle came past, escorted front and back by mounted police to hold the crowds away. People rushed forward screaming hysterically. Police edged them back and the vehicle moved slowly forward.

I asked a woman, “Who was that?” She’d been one of those who pushed herself up toward the SUV. She turned to me as if I were out of my mind, “It was HIM!” she yelled. “But,” I questioned, “how do you know? All the windows were darkened.” She replied, “I felt it.”

So we continued to wait. Then it was time for the doors to open. Suddenly the vast mob broke and raced pell-mell for the doors. No more pretense at lines. Well-dressed men and ladies in suits and fancy hats stampeded forward like animals, just like the young people in droopy pants, t-shirts, and do-rags. . . .

[...]

The crowd grew more than restless, restless to the umpteenth power, fed up with surrogates. It began to roar, “O-BAH-MA!” A chant that shook the building and vibrated the floor in its immensity.

An then, there he was. I had moved all the way to the back of the Convention Center, from which vantage, oddly, I could see him pretty well. He gave the same speech he gives everywhere. I paid no attention to him but watched the crowd.

Those faces. It was raw, naked, complete, worship, love, heart-whole passionate stunned and almost unbelieving but desperately wanting to believe him adoration.

The Obama Cult: Both Ugly And Beautiful (Eyewitness account of Obama Rally) February 11, 2008.

"Obama is the 'New Wine'

But many women at the rally questioned whether other Americans share their passion and pride in someone they see as a model working mother. "We loved the Clintons, but I don't know how much everybody else loves her," said Pam Lockridge, a special education teacher at Washington-Lee. "Because of her, girls have hope. That's important. But there has been a change. People want something new. Obama is like the new wine."

The Bible, like American voters, is of two minds about new wine. Luke suggests that the old is good; after all, "No one after drinking old wine desires new wine." But in Matthew and Mark, the emphasis is on putting the new wine into new skins, for the old vessels simply cannot withstand the power of that which is still fermenting.

Marc Fisher, Washington Post Columnist February 10, 2008.

"He is like a key. He's going to unlock a door . . ."

Jody Klein of Centralia, Wash., about two hours-drive south of Seattle, was near tears as she recounted her Obama experience. At age 20, she'll vote in a presidential election for the first time.

"There's just this amazing excitement that's here," she said. "When he was talking about hope, it actually almost made me cry. Like it really made sense, like, for the first, like, whoa … how important a time this is for us. It was really exciting."

[...]

Seattleite Wendy Malabuyo, a 31-year-old engineer, said she couldn't name any specific accomplishments that qualified Obama to be president but pointed to his career of "serving the underserved" in Chicago after graduation from Harvard.

"He inspires me. I can't even say. … He gives me so much hope," Malabuyo said. "It makes me feel like something will actually change. So I'm speechless. I love him. I love everything he stands for. I love everything that he can bring to this country. And we just need to get him there."

John Cruce, 64, who worked for 30 years at the State Department in Washington, D.C., managing records, said he hasn't seen a political leader like Obama come along since President Kennedy. [...]

Asked what the senator has accomplished that makes him fit to become president, Cruce said: "Well, I think the biggest thing is he is like a key. He's going to unlock a door that's going to allow us now to pass and finally be able to do some things we would like to do. There are not going to be as many barriers as there have in the past."

Obama Rocks Seattle World Net Daily November 9, 2008.

"I was 10 feet away from him, 10 feet away"

SEATTLE–The Key Arena doors opened just before 11 a.m. and Cynthia Keze was one of the thousands hoping to see Barack Obama.

When she did not get in, she was determined to wait out in the rain just in case she got a glimpse of the man she says has brought her new hope for the future of the United States.

"The rest of us, we were in this huge crowd outside in the rain and he came out in the rain and talked to us," said Keze, her voice still raw from cheering. "I was 10 feet away from him, 10 feet away," she repeated another two times in awe.

"The only time I felt like that was when I saw Pope John Paul II."

As reported by The Toronto Star February 9, 2008.

"An overpowering sense of HOPE ..."

"Nothing is more fundamentally powerful than how I felt when I met him. I stood, my hand embraced in his, and ... I felt something ... something that I can only describe as an overpowering sense of Hope."

- Actor Eric Christian Olsen (Via Joel Stein) February 8, 2008

"... a hymn that will HEAL THIS NATION, REPAIR THIS WORLD ..."

We are the hope of the future; the answer to the cynics who tell us our house must stand divided; that we cannot come together; that we cannot remake this world as it should be.

Because we know what we have seen and what we believe - that what began as a whisper has now swelled to a chorus that cannot be ignored; that will not be deterred; that will ring out across this land as a hymn that will heal this nation, repair this world, and make this time different than all the rest - Yes. We. Can.

Barack Obama, Super Tuesday February 5, 2008

"The Collective Representation of our Purest Hopes, our Highest Visions and our Deepest Knowings"

Just go to any college campus around the nation, to any stadium or large venue where Barack Obama is speaking....and listen. First you'll hear voices, cheers, whoops and hollers. But listen more closely and you'll hear something intangible, something we don't even have a language yet to describe. Listen very closely and you will hear energy, you will hear passion, you will hear intention and you will hear potential manifesting. You will be listening into what I call our collective "VQ." You will be listening into our Vibrational Intelligence.

Vibrational Intelligence, or VQ is a measure of all the intangibles. It's what's electric, resonant, pulsating, replete with energy, and connecting us all. It's ubiquitous and it's viral. It permeates the quantum field. Barack Obama is our collective representation of our purest hopes, our highest visions and our deepest knowings of who we are as a people, and as a country. We've surfaced him out of "the field" and charged him with the task of riding this wave on our behalf. . . .

Obama has tapped into his own VQ. He's listened to the unspoken, heard the unvoiced, and has responded to the yearning of our youth, our boomers, and the disenfranchised. He's our product out of the all-knowing quantum field of intelligence, of which we're all a part; and he's simultaneously speaking into that field. In that collective vibrational field exists a longing for the more of who we are, and the hunger to live it.

Eve Konstantine, Huffington Post February 5, 2005.

Christopher Matthews: "This is the New Testament"

"I’ve been following politics since I was about 5,” said Mr. Matthews. “I’ve never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament. This is surprising."

- Christopher Matthews (As quoted in Primary Scream New York Observer February 5, 2008)

JFK . . . MLK . . . OBAMA.

Masses Break Out in Hymn To Obama

"You Feel Things Coming From Him"

Jan Young, 56, of Maple Grove, said the size and diversity of the crowd was unlike anything she had seen in politics in her lifetime.

"It's almost like the Messiah, you know?" said Young, a woman who said she originally backed Clinton but was drawn to Obama over the last year. "People really, really want change, and you feel it. You don't just hear it -- you feel something coming from him."

Obama Draws Throngs To Target Center WCCO.com. February 2, 2008.