Obama = The New Mahatma

... followers willing to wait for hours on end to hear him speak have been crowding out huge concert halls and sports arenas to get a glimpse of their new progressive avatar and drive long distances to obtain the Obama darshan or to simply be in his presence. One can just imagine what the peace and flower-power concerts in the 60's might have been like. Many even see in Obama a messiah-like figure, a great soul, and some affectionately call him Mahatma Obama. Clearly, people are hungry for a change and want an inspirational leader who can serve up some hearty 'chicken soup for the soul'. ...

Like the Mahatma [Gandhi], Obama is becoming a global symbol of the 'hopes and dreams' of millions around the world. Those who look up to the American ideals, consume American media, and dream American dreams are tuned into this historic election. While Gandhi marked the end of the colonial era, Obama with his multicultural background and upbringing represents the age of globalization. Obama is in an unprecedented historical position to not only be the first African American president, but the first 'global president' of America. Obama's images on T-shirts, magazine covers, and TV screens around the world may be a harbinger of the next American century, if the American people are willing and able to lead it.

Obama's Satyagraha: Or, Did Obama Swallow the Mahatma?. June 27, 2008. (Dinesh Sharma is a marketing science consultant with a PhD in Psychology from Harvard).

Behold the Great Seal of the ObamaNation!

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a meeting of Democratic Governors at the Chicago History Museum in Chicago Friday, June 20, 2008. A new seal debuted on Obama's podium Friday, sporting iconography used in the U.S. presidential seal, the blue background, the eagle clutching arrows on left and olive branch on right, but with symbolic differences. Instead of the Latin "E pluribus unum" (Out of many, one), Obama's says "Vero possumus", rough Latin for "Yes, we can." Instead of "Seal of the President of the United States", Obama's Web site address is listed. And instead of a shield, Obama's eagle wears his "O" campaign logo with a rising sun representing hope ahead.

Obama: Change We Can Believe In

Credit: Crus Rincon @ Flickr

"This is my Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased"

... And when Jesus OBAMA was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Sen. Barack Obama walks to the pulpit to speak at the Apostolic Church of God service about fatherhood in Chicago on Sunday. PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Brandon; Associated Press. June 16, 2008

Temple Priests offer prayers to Indian God for Obama's Victory

NEW YORK: It's unusual. But, it's a fact. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic party's presidential nominee, is seeking the blessings of Hanuman in his battle for the White House.

The 46-year-old senator from Illinois, who defeated his rival Hillary Clinton in an epic 17-month long electoral battle for Democratic party nomination, carries a "tiny monkey god" apparently representing "Hanuman" with him for good luck.

A recent photo posted on Time's White House Photo of the Day collection shows the first ever Black-American nominee of a major US party for the Presidential elections carries with him a bracelet belonging to an American soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler's lucky chit, a tiny monkey god and tiny Madonna and child.

That "tiny monkey god," of course, appears to be a statue of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman, says the posting but editors and the photographer has not identified it as such.

Obama seeks Hanuman's blessing for White House race The Economic Times June 10, 2008.

The priests of Sankat Mochan temple offered prayers to Lord Hanuman, to seek blessings for Obama for the upcoming presidential elections.

During the prayers Caroline Saurce, the Indian representative of Obama, was present at the temple.

The priests gave her a gold idol of the deity to be presented to Obama after consecrating it at the end of 11 days prayers.

“After performing prayers according to Hindu rituals the idol would be consecrated and then it would be handed over to Saurce, Obama's India representative who would carry it to America," said Brij Mohan Bhama, a Hanuman devotee.

Temple priests offer prayers for Obama's victory Sify News June 10, 2008.

"We just like to say his name. We are considering taking it as a mantra."

"While Obama's campaign operation was stagnating under a lame-duck campaign manager, Bettylu Stalzman was working hard. She was pulling together fund-raisers and lobbying [eventual campaign manager David] Axelrod hard on her belief that he indeed had a budding star on his hands in Obama. "I'm sure she used the word magical," Axelrod said with a smile. [Emphasis in original, page 183.]

In Chicago, Obama was listed among the dozen or so politicos who had "IT." Beneath a flattering photo of a smiling, confident-looking Obama, the [Chicago] Sun-Times breathed heavily: "The first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review has a movie-star smile and more than a little mystique. Also, we just like to say his name. We are considering taking it as a mantra." [page 218]

They serenaded the Hyde Park Democrat with chants of "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!" Obama drew such a passionate outpouring from the crowd that even he and his aides were overwhelmed. "At one point, I thought Barack was going to rise up over the people and start saying, 'My children, my children, I have come to free you,' joked his driver and bodyguard, Mike Signator. "It was just incredible." [p. 297]

As quoted in David Mendell's Obama: From Promise to Power (Via NRO's "Campaign Spot").

Obama is a LightWorker - an Attuned Being with Powerful Luminosity and High-Vibration Integrity who will actually help usher in a New Way of Being

Barack Obama isn't really one of us. Not in the normal way, anyway.

This is what I find myself offering up more and more in response to the whiners and the frowners and to those with broken or sadly dysfunctional karmic antennae - or no antennae at all - to all those who just don't understand and maybe even actively recoil against all this chatter about Obama's aura and feel and MLK/JFK-like vibe.

To them I say, all right, you want to know what it is? The appeal, the pull, the ethereal and magical thing that seems to enthrall millions of people from all over the world, that keeps opening up and firing into new channels of the culture normally completely unaffected by politics?

No, it's not merely his youthful vigor, or handsomeness, or even inspiring rhetoric. It is not fresh ideas or cool charisma or the fact that a black president will be historic and revolutionary in about a thousand different ways. It is something more. Even Bill Clinton, with all his effortless, winking charm, didn't have what Obama has, which is a sort of powerful luminosity, a unique high-vibration integrity.

Dismiss it all you like, but I've heard from far too many enormously smart, wise, spiritually attuned people who've been intuitively blown away by Obama's presence - not speeches, not policies, but sheer presence - to say it's just a clever marketing ploy ...

Here's where it gets gooey. Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet, of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul.

The unusual thing is, true Lightworkers almost never appear on such a brutal, spiritually demeaning stage as national politics. This is why Obama is so rare. And this why he is so often compared to Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., to those leaders in our culture whose stirring vibrations still resonate throughout our short history.

Mark Mortford ("Is Obama an enlightened being?" San Francisco Chronicle June 6, 2008).

"Another chapter could be added to the Bible to chronicle its significance"

“I cried all night. I’m going to be crying for the next four years,” he said. “What Barack Obama has accomplished is the single most extraordinary event that has occurred in the 232 years of the nation’s political history. ... The event itself is so extraordinary that another chapter could be added to the Bible to chronicle its significance.”

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. on Obama's winning the Democratic presidential nomination (Politico June 5, 2008).

"this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal ..."

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Obama's Nomination Victory Speech In St. Paul June 3, 2008.

"his speeches give an aura of immortality that belies the fact that he's a living breathing human"

The crowd just erupted in expectation of Obama's appearance but aides called him off. The fact that Stacy Ritter started a chant is reflective of the confidence Obama has instilled in the populace. My voice hurts right now as I have screamed for the good majority of 10 minutes. It's the least I can do for a campaign that has battled so much.

Obama is here! The noise level is absolutely crazy. People are screaming and waving as the man makes his way to the stage with about 10 Secret Service agents behind him.

The crowd immediately ceased the roar when Obama approached the mic, eager to hear whatever the man has to say. ...

Obama's speaking:

"It's good to be in sunshine."

"I love you back"

Barack is recounting why he chose to run, invoking Dr. King's quote about "the urgency of now"
Seemingly whatever he says is being applauded; In a lighthearted way, he said he hasn't done anything yet. The people obviously don't care, drowning out the beginning of his talk.

Obama is successfully rallying people's emotions; the crowd's response is greatest when he talks of universal issues such as self-confidence or a lack thereof. Obama is driving home his messages of equality to a chorus of "yes we can"

I can't believe the man whose speeches I watch on YouTube everyday is so close to me. his speeches give an aura of immortality that belies the fact that he's a living breathing human. ...

His oratory skills are unparalleled. He has created an atmosphere in which each person feels that Obama is talking to them. This communal feel is emblematic of the campaign strategy. I can't help but feel as if I am listening to a speech that will one day be discussed in history books all over the country.

"Every child is our child."

Obama has put a modern twist on the log cabin campaign. This has been one of the defining moments of my very young life.

Obama owns the podium as he walks the walk of a champion. I trust this man. and he has influenced more than he has time to think about. ...

The Obama rally in Sunrise: Blogging live South Florida Sun Sentinel May 23, 2008.

Via the Flikr Obama Art Pool

Behold, Barack Obama's Waffle

A seller named "dixpea" placed what is purported to be Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's half-eaten breakfast from his Monday visit to the Gilder Diner in Scranton, Pennsylvania up for auction on eBay this week, with a suggested bid of over $10,000.

"This is Barak (sic) Hussein Obama's breakfast," the seller wrote, "winner gets his used diner plate with his used silverware and an uneaten portion of his waffle and sausage link."

A note from the seller on ebay explained a waitress at the diner wrapped Obama's uneaten breakfast with plastic wrap after he left the diner and gave it to "a loyal customer."

"This is 100% authentic," the seller writes. "His DNA is on the silverware."

Obama's Half-Eaten Breakfast Sold on eBay April 22, 2008.

* * *

Barack Obama's Waffle (Artist's Interpretation - $90 EBay (sold)

"Faith. Hope. Change. Obama."

Official Barack Obama Campaign Advertisement, Kentucky May 2008

"And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light." (Matthew 17: 2)

Illustration which accompanied the Wilamette Week's endorsement of Barack Obama April 30th, 2008

His story exemplifies the quest of the Solar Hero -- does it not feel Some Special Hand is guiding his journey?

The constellation Perseus pictures the story of the Hero Perseus, holding the head of Medussa, which he had just severed with his sword. Perseus was greatly aided by the gods in his quest to destroy the Medussa, whose very glance could turn a person into stone. He was given a magic sword, Athena's shield, winged sandals with which he could fly, a magic cap which rendered him invisible, and the guidance for him to not directly look into Medussas face as he battled her, but to look at her in the reflection of his shield.

There were two stars that were highlighted by the comet's passage, Mirfak, and Algol. Mirfak is the elbow of Perseus's sword hand. Algol, Medussa'a eye, has long been seen as one of the most malifec and evil stars in the heavens.

Obama was born with his sun in Leo, and his story exemplifies the quest of the Solar Hero. His father, who joins with his mother on an island, conceives a child, and soon thereafter leaves the child and mother to continue his own journeying. Obama, a 'special 'child, left to create his own internal image of 'father', and related meanings of strength, protection, leadership, etc.

The Holmes comet appears just as the presidential race is kicking into high gear, illuminating the concept of the hero vanquishing the monster, a monster that turns people into stone if they gaze upon her. Does it not seem as if our country today is all locked up, constricted, restricted, with ever shrinking mobility and freedom of movement?

Perseus had help from the gods. Does it not feel as if some special hand is guiding Obama on his journey, I mean, as he has said, the utter improbability of it all?

The instructions to not directly look at her, but to look at her reflection in his shield. What is Obama's shield, in essence? I propose it is his belief in hope, redemption, and his ability to channel the essential goodness of the American people. The Perseus myth clearly indicates he should not confront his opponent by face-to-face, tit-for-tat combat.

Of especial significance for me is the star Mirfak, the elbow of Perseus's sword arm. At some point, he does need to utilize his elbows, and when the moment comes, cut strongly and swiftly.

And lastly, let us not forget that the comet is BLUE.

So let us have hope, the gods are on our side, and the Hero will prevail.

Daily Kos, April 26, 2008

"I thought the Rolling Stones was good. This is better"

MISSOULA — Missoula roared Saturday morning for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. In the Adams Center, Montanans shook their collective booty, held up their babies and even wept for a presidential candidate they believe will restore the American Dream in their towns and integrity to the White House.

“I’ve lived here in Montana all my life. I’ve never seen anything here like this before this energy today. Montana is coming alive,” said Carole Meyers, of Missoula. ...

shortly after 8 a.m., the line of people that curled out the entrance of the basketball arena and down Arthur Avenue started moving.

Amanda Cooper used the time in line to pretty up her baby, Aislyn, for Obama. As the Bozeman woman made her way into the arena, she used a makeup pencil to write “Kiss me” on the side of her 6-month-old’s forehead.

“Say, ‘Kiss me, ‘Bama.’” ...

It feels like this is a part of history we’re going to be lucky we saw,” said Mary Kelly, of Missoula.

At 9:22 a.m. in the arena, a flash of stage lights elicited whoops and catcalls from the crowd. At 9:35 a.m., the energized early risers started the wave.

“I just want to touch him,” said one.

Just before 10 a.m., the crowd began chanting Obama’s can-do theme, and they chanted faster and faster.

“Yes we can, yes we can, yes we can.” “Yes-we-can. Yes-we-can.

Yes-we-can.” “Yeswecan.Yeswecan.Yeswecan.” After campaign organizers said thank yous and officials gave introductions, someone yanked the podium off the stage.

Then Obama met his Montana fans “We love you!” and it was Mon-Bamania all around.

Junell Gill, who is visiting family in Missoula, was a Clinton supporter until she heard Obama talk in person.

“He was just very, very inspiring, and very convincing with his convictions,” said Gill, of California.

Many people left the arena quickly after Obama did, but one man was so moved by the possibility of hope and change that he sat quietly in the stands and cried.

Doug Frandsen said Obama represents hope that there’s something better for this country. The Missoula man said Obama is charismatic, but it isn’t his charisma that speaks to him. It’s his message.

“I don’t think I’ve experienced anything quite like it. I thought the Rolling Stones was good. This is better,” Frandsen said.

Missoula crowd cheers, weeps for Barack Obama, by Keila Szpaller. The Montana Standard April 6, 2008.

"He communicates God-like energy..."

I have been examining the Obama phenomenon myself, and have concluded, at least for myself, a Midwestern white male, that Barack’s appeal is actually messianic, it’s something about his aura, his spirit, his soul, that exudes enlightenment in the making.

Oh, he’s not fully enlightened, being that enlightenment is a process, not an event. But for reasons I can’t fully articulate, he is one of those individuals who communicates God-like energy (metaphorically speaking), in whom you can “feel” God.

Now, I’m using the term “God” to mean the loving, honest, just, and inspiring part of the force behind it all. You may not believe something’s behind it all, but I do. And I look for God constantly — that which exudes love, integrity, humility, depth, kindness, generosity — and more ... supposedly.

So, Geraldine, I’m taking a special look at Barack Obama because he’s a lot closer to a Jesus-type than the other candidates, by quite a bit. What if God decided to incarnate as men preaching “hope and change.” And what if we didn’t recognize them, because we are so dull, and let them slip away, not availing ourselves of the opportunity to be led by God! Lord knows we’ve elected the anti-Christ often enough. Excuse me, George.

Steve Davis, Charleston, SC March 31, 2008.

A small child is held up above the signs to see Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., speak at a rally at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., Monday, March 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

"The Obama Phenomenon"

...."The phenomenon in question is this: the intense desire of every human being on this planet to overcome and transcend the materialism and selfishness that shape the global economic arrangements and permeate the consciousness of all people, to overcome the looking-out-for-number one consciousness that divides us and the technocratic language that shapes our public institutions and denies us access to our common humanity, and to overcome the alienation from each other that this way of being has created so that we might once again recognize each other as embodiments of God or Spirit (or however you want to talk about the force-field of goodness, generosity, kindness, justice, peace, nonviolence, and care for each other and nature and the entirety of all that is).....

Michael Lerner, Tikkun

"a man of resplendid vision with the wisdom of Solomon"

On the Internet video sharing site YouTube, the pulsating steel-pan fused Barack the Magnificent, by Trinidad calypso king The Mighty Sparrow, has gotten more than 70,000 hits. Earlier this month, Jamaican reggae dancehall crooner Cocoa Tea released Barak Obahama, a laid-back reggae-tinged tribute that tells listeners, "This is not about class nor color, race nor creed. Make no mistake it's the changes . . . what the Americans need." . . .

"He's no ordinary man," said Sparrow, who calls Obama a man of resplendid vision with the wisdom of Solomon, the biblical king of Israel. ``I see people my age in the 70s, 80s, 60s, 50s screaming out in appreciation like when the Beatles first came to America. I can't believe that older people would react that way. That is one of the reasons why I believe he was sent by the Messiah."

Caribbean sings (literally) Obama's praises Miami Herald March 28, 2006.

"He appeals to all that is innate and created in us in a longing for that “better country, that is a heavenly one” discussed in Hebrews 11"

The only thing that would have made it more delicious would have been if he had come to Eugene, Oregon, on Palm Sunday rather than on Good Friday. And if his supporters had been waving palm fronds rather than “Change You Can Believe In!” placards. The Obama phenomena has risen to the level of religious, almost messianic fervor.

I see among many of the young a hopelessness that is almost tangible. Alongside that is an inability to trust others and to believe in ultimate truths and values. The mantra is that authority cannot be trusted and that the loudest voices in society want to do nothing more than “sell” something. Broken homes have created a generation with absolutely no one to look up to and to turn to for advice. So direction is lacking, commitment is rare, and despair is rampant.

Barack Obama strides into that void. While voicing “other worldly” themes he suggests “this world” solutions. His soaring oratory and his ambitious promises make his appeal to hope and his drive for change seem reasonable and attainable. He appeals to all that is innate and created in us in a longing for that “better country, that is a heavenly one” discussed in Hebrews 11. And he offers fulfillment in his election to the presidency at which time he will unleash the power of government to set things right in a world currently turned upside down. Thus he offers a messianic hope with the full weight and force of the U.S. government to back him up. For many right now, with the youth leading the way, this is a compelling combination. Heaven on earth is indeed appealing rather than having to wait.

Peter Wierenga, World March 27, 2008.

"not just an ordinary human being but indeed an Advanced Soul"

I listened to that endorsement and Barack's speech afterwards and Obama, to me, must be not just an ordinary human being but indeed an Advanced Soul, come to lead America out of this mess, if we no if They, let them, but we too have a say in this Democracy, this Barack well knows. Through this trial-by-fire, recently experienced by him, he has been Humble, Noncombative, Noncritical and committed to doing his work on this earth to make it a more better and perfect union. He has kept his promise not to tear one another down but to build us up. He has courage in the face of fire, not a courage of anger but a courage of goodwill and harmlessness in spite of the difficulties. That is why he can say with honesty that he can work with the other side because where others see hate, he sees love and the good within an individual... that takes a special person to see the good when bad is all around that person and may be to bring that good out within that person.. to transform them, while all the time transforming theirself.

Commentator @ Lyn Sweet's The Scoop from Washington Chicago Sun-Times March 21, 2008

"What he is offering ... is a covenant for PERFECTION"

... there is no other like Obama. Absolutely none. ...

What he is offering is not for the naive, nor the fainted-hearted, its not for the uncourageous, nor the unchanging.

What he is offering is for the courageous, for those who have the heart to move beyond just dreams, and into realms never experienced in American history.

What he is offering is beyond hope, hope is just a starting point, like the intimate binding of struggle between his example of the young white girl and the old black man.

What he is offering is for those who look to the next generation, believing that perfection is not in the eyes of the beholder, but reality which we can't avoid

What he is offering is a solution for opportunities for more solutions to tackle root issues that have paralyzed a nation fit for perfection

What he is offering is the antisynthesis to an ideology of hate and a philosophy of inferiority

What he is offering is an agreement between struggles and a covenant for perfection, in that nothing is impossible if one begins with hope and the assurance of faith

What he is offering is a contract between the old and the young, black and white, citizens and immigrants, rich and poor, priviledged and the impoverished

What he is offering is beyond what we think could happen, it is what will happen someday, though the opportunity is one that we can grasp ...

I am ready for what he is offering, though I also understand that this time, fate might not be ready, though if indeed our generation's destiny, if indeed this time when we speak of such taboo truths, is indeed the time we've so longed for, to move one step closer towards perfection, then I am ready for what he is offering.

That is all that matters, no matter what the political outcome is, he has tapped into a force greater than what we have ever faced, he speaks directly to our hearts, bypassing our conscience and connecting with the root of our psyche. So that even if we try to hold hard to that which continue to divide us, because of our fear, our ignorance, and our childish philosophies of unchanging solutions; his message transcends our reach.

So on behalf of Senator Obama's message, who is truly the epitome of a dream that can only be dreamt by the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., I am truly inspired that hope, change, and perfection are all means and ends which one day, we will achieve, within this nation and the world at-large.

Akindele | March 18, 2008 12:11 PM [Comment on Lynn Sweet's Chicago Sun-Times blog]

"The Hope of a New Generation"

The book was a REVELATION. Here was a man whose honesty about himself and understanding of the human condition are both deep and compassionate. ... Born to a white mother and an African father, he was raised in multiracial Hawaii and for several years in Indonesia. He drifted through some druggy teenage years — no apologies! — before emerging as a star at Harvard Law School. He chose to work as a community organizer in the projects of Chicago rather than join the wealthy insider world of corporate law. And as a young adult, he searched, in the distant villages of Kenya, for the father and family he never knew.

As I read all this, so elegantly written, my mind kept rolling over: Might it be possible? Is there some fate by which we could have this man as president of the United States?

The similarities between John Kennedy and Barack Obama come to mind easily: the youth, the magnetism, the natural grace, the eloquence, the wit, the intelligence, the hope of a new generation.

But it might be more to the point to view Obama as Lincolnesque in his own origins, his sobriety and what history now demands. ...

We need to recover the spiritual and moral direction that should describe our country and ourselves. We see this in Obama, and we see the promise he represents to bring factions together, to achieve again the unity that drives great change and faces difficult, and inconvenient, truths and peril. ...

Like Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama challenges America to rise up, to do what so many of us long to do: to summon "the better angels of our nature."

Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone Official Endorsement.

"Miracle" - Remix of Stevie Wonder's Hymn to Obama

Obama walks "the hero's journey" . . .

Some readers understood right away what I meant last week when I said that John McCain has the misfortune to be running against Luke Skywalker. But others are still scratching their heads, wondering what in the world I was talking about.

I was talking about Barack Obama. I think his story has been so compelling for so many people because it taps into one of our most profound myths.

Obama's myth is a tried-and-true one. The late folklorist Joseph Campbell called it "the hero's journey," and it's found in every culture, from Moses, David and Odysseus to Luke Skywalker, Frodo and Harry Potter.

It's both a literal journey and an inward voyage of self-discovery. The hero begins as a callow youth -- often one who has lost one or both parents -- who has no idea who he really is.

The journey consists of a series of trials that teach him his true destiny and reveal powers that he didn't know he had. These trials are usually epic struggles against seemingly invincible monsters.

David fought the giant Goliath, Odysseus fought the one-eyed Cyclops, and Obama has been waging a marathon battle against the dreaded two-headed Billary.

At the end of the journey, armed with enhanced power and self-knowledge, the hero returns home and saves the world.

Martin Snapp, Contra Costa Times March 7, 2008.

"They just began SINGING AT ME, and they were singing 'YES WE CAN'!"

A few weeks ago, covered in Hillary badges, I approached a young couple in California and, as I was about to offer up my pearls of electoral wisdom, they just began singing at me. And they were singing Yes We Can, the song by Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am, whose video has become a phenomenon on YouTube. [...]

[T]his week, the musician has put out another singalong. The new video captures a different side to supporting Obama: its fanaticism, its breathless, quasi-religious excitement, and its inherent problems. Instead of the text of a speech, the refrain has simply become "Obama", and its message: "We are the ones."

The Obama campaign uses a religious calling as its central rhetorical trope: "I'm asking you to believe," reads the banner across the top of barackobama.com. His appeal to voters is an archetype of religious conversion: instead of being asked for support, Americans are exhorted to "join the movement".

In Georgia, he directly equated his supporters with God's people: "God had a plan for his people. He told them to stand together and march together around the city… and when the horn sounded and a chorus of voices cried out together, the mighty walls of Jericho came tumbling down."

Later in the speech, he asked the congregation to "walk with me, march with me… and if enough of our voices join together, we can bring those walls tumbling down."

Obama supporters listen to his speech in San Antonio, Texas. REUTERS/Jim Young

Obama has created the impression that Clinton supporters, like the Pharisees in the temple, are obstacles to change: "I want to speak directly to all those Americans who have yet to join this movement but still hunger for change. They know it in their gut... But they're afraid. They've been taught to be cynical."

It's not an argument for better government; it's an exhortation to see the light. It's not a plan for the Presidency, but a leap of faith.

This idea came to a head in Obama's Super Tuesday speech, with those much talked about phrases: "We are the change that we seek… We are the ones we've been waiting for."

'We Are The Chosen Ones': A new hymn to Obama Telegraph [UK] March 6, 2008.

"The similarities between Obamian hope and biblical hope are extraordinary"

Obamian hope moves beyond the past and seeks to proactively conceptualise and create the future. It does not just wait for the future to come; it contributes to its shaping and coming. It pulls the future to itself and pushes itself towards the future.

Biblical hope is similar. Like Obamian hope, it speaks to the matter of the future being pulled into the present in the Kingdom of God. In a real sense, the Kingdom of God respects but moves beyond the past and, in the present, it realises the future, in a preliminary sense. Biblical hope also, in a sense, propels the one in whom it is found toward the future consummation of this kingdom. Like Obamian hope, biblical hope knows that the present is just a platform on which the future is being built and experienced. This is powerful.

In addition, Obamian hope rises above the fray of the mundane, the dehumanising, the frivolous and the conventional. It shifts from the periphery to the centre of human history. It is a hope that escapes attempts at suppression and obliteration by 'unhope' and the forces thereof. . . .

Fundamentally, the similarities between Obamian hope and biblical hope are extraordinary, striking and intriguing. Like biblical hope, Obamian hope inspires the United States of America and the world.

Rev. Earlmont Williams, Jamaican Gleaner March 1, 2008

Associated Press: "Believe"

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a town hall meeting in Carrollton, Texas, Monday, March 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

"I believe in Obama, because he believes in ME"

"It’s so rapturous, everything around him. All these huge rallies."

“I don’t think that it’s kind treatment versus unkind treatment,” Mr. Cowan began, taking issue with the depiction of journalists fawning over Mr. Obama in a “Saturday Night Live” skit last Saturday . . .

And yet, Mr. Cowan then described several advantages that he saw Mr. Obama as having over his rival. “He hasn’t been around as long, so there isn’t as much to pick at,” Mr. Cowan said. “He plays everything very cool. He’s not as much of a lightning rod. His personality just doesn’t seem to draw that kind of coverage.”

“Even in the conversations we have as colleagues, there is a sense of trying especially hard not to drink the Kool-Aid,” Mr. Cowan added. “It’s so rapturous, everything around him. All these huge rallies.”

On the Press Bus, Some Questions Over Favoritism, by Jacques Steinberg. New York Times March 1, 2008.

"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