He’s President in our hearts
I think Ann Althouse is definitely onto something, which is that Obama’s appeal has something in common with that of Princess Diana.
Lest you think I jest, take a look at the quote she found at Deutsche Welle from a German admirer:
“For me he already is the American president,” wrote one user of a Website about Obama’s Berlin visit. “He may not be have been elected, but he’s the president in people’s hearts.”
It also gives me a clue as to what Obama’s puzzling “8 to 10 years” remark might have been about. If he’s already President in our hearts, and has been for about two years, just add that to the two terms he seems certain he’ll get, and you arrive at the figure ten.
Or more.
The same thought had occurred to me. Obama and Di – the perfect Prom King and Queen.
As leaders, not so much.
There won’t be a Princess Di in the Obamastration, but there will be a Queen.
Actually I think it would be wonderful for Obama to become a black Tony Robbins, touring the country and the world inspiring people to lead more constructive lives.
But while he remains illiterate, inexperienced, and unaccomplished, no, he should not be president.
It’s a prince/princess fantasy thing. Obama/Di help people believe the fantasy is real.
I must say this for the Princess of Wales: she would not have cancelled a visit to wounded soldiers at Landstuhl AFB. She was good that way. She was compassionate.
I also see a bit of Elvis, i.e: he’s one of us, and he made it big.
The redneck attraction to Elvis = he’s one of us: a simple boy, not rich, not too educated, loves his Mama, he coulda ended up living in the trailer next to me – but he made it big, and we love him for it.
Can’t go wrong with German hero worship.
That’s another problem with Obama. Aside from all the heart-strings-tugging when he reads from the teleprompter, Obama doesn’t seem to have a heart. I can’t think of any special acts of love and compassion he’s performed.
Apparently he just blew off visiting wounded soldiers in Europe after he discovered he could only come as a senator, not a presidential candiate accompanied by a media circus.
http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/269302.php
I had the same thought about Obama and Princess Di.
BTW, I heard that the crowd in Berlin was actually 20,000 not 200,000. I wonder if that is really true?
Terrye,
Either way, the number of voters = 0.
Is there any historical precedent for Germans being particularly insightful in how they assess leadership potential?
There may have been some voters there as the crowd (number still under discussion) was very mixed from a national point of view. Not all Germans by a long chalk and there may have been some Americans. Not that it matters as they would have been Obamaniacs already. I am not sure that quote is so different from what some Americans says, particularly of the journalistic variety. Obamania did not start in Germany.
As for the late Princess of Wales, as a matter of fact, she did cancel various charity appearances if there were no cameras present. She would have preferred sick children to wounded soldiers. The parallels are, nevertheless, there, including the lack of real intelligence but plenty of low cunning and appeal to sentiment. In Britain we call it dianafication. There has been too much of it, altogether.
When it comes to the Germans, this sort of thing frightens me just a bit. I once had the occasion to be talking to an older German lady (in Germany, and in my then-good-now-very-rusty German). Anyway, we were chatting about the “bad old days”, i.e., 1933-1945, and at one point she got this dreamy look in her eyes, and said, “I saw him once…” She snapped out of her brief reverie quickly enough, but we both knew who “him” was. Very disconcerting. Then again, it seems that maybe not enough Americans are immune to this kind of idol worship, either. Let’s never forget that the president is a public employee, not an elected demigod.