Monday, February 25, 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