Lowering The Bar
Sen. Barack Obama preaches “Hope” and “Change” to the multitudes. He stands as a savior of the unwashed masses and offers gifts and glory to them – if only they will grant him their votes. There is no denying that Sen. Obama is a brilliant orator and has the capability of capturing the dreams of many in the US – but what will he deliver on those promises?
From The Times of London (Times Online):
Barack Obama’s senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next week’s election, amid concerns that many of his euphoric supporters are harbouring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.
The sudden financial crisis and the prospect of a deep and painful recession have increased the urgency inside the Obama team to bring people down to earth, after a campaign in which his soaring rhetoric and promises of “hope” and “change” are now confronted with the reality of a stricken economy.
One senior adviser told The Times that the first few weeks of the transition, immediately after the election, were critical, “so there’s not a vast mood swing from exhilaration and euphoria to despair”.
The aide said that Mr Obama himself was the first to realise that expectations risked being inflated.
—
Read the full Times Online Article
Sen. Obama has sown the wind with his populist approach and his inspiring but insubstantial political platform. Now it seems that he and his advisers are worried that he will reap the whirlwind of dashed hopes, despair, and the rage that will ensue from false hopes and broken promises.
H/T to The Reluctant Optimist
Tags: 2008 Elections | Obama | Politics | Society
October 31st, 2008 at 9:41 am
I think you underestimate the gullability of Senator Obama’s followers.
He will merely say something like, “Well what I really meant was in my first term we will have to take things very slowly. Slow Change. Now in my next term that’s when we can really get things moving!”
October 31st, 2008 at 9:45 am
Maybe, but I doubt it. A “Rain Man’ has to produce rain, and that quickly lest he be lynched by the mob.
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:07 am
He also said that change will not be immediate. Where or when, I can’t recall off the top of my head, all the political banter has jumbled together at this point.
No matter who gets the office, change and recovery is going to take times. Anyone who thinks that it’ll happen overnight are gullible.
Came here from that Anti-Halloween post, where you beat me to what I was going to say. Nicely said, by the way. Commented and then saved it on my own blog. I have yet to see it appear under the original post. A Reverend left a comment concurring with both of us and thought you might be interested in taking a look.
Cheers.
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:18 am
Thanks for stopping by, Mish. 🙂
I just find it both interesting and disturbing that the Obama campaign is already having to work hard to manage the expectations of his followers and devotees.
From where I sit I see it as the natural – but dangerous – negative consequence of Obama’s campaign strategy. He has sold himself as a savior and his followers are filled with the hope of change. I doubt that most of them will easily tolerate reductions or deferments in what they perceive as Obama’s promises.