It seems to me that there is a great degree of symmetry in the trajectories of the political fortunes – first upward, then downward – of many “phenoms.” Politicians who enjoy meteoric rises eventually suffer mirror-image, catastrophic falls. Perhaps it is attributable to the public’s susceptibility to faddism. Today’s sensation eventually morphs into someone who is “so 10 minutes ago.”
Politicians who rise slowly and steadily tend to have staying power. The ones who shoot quickly to the top – the so-called “rock stars” – often end up being the flavor of the month. (People not old enough to have experienced the “magic” of JFK’s Camelot, for example, don’t realize that he was no shoe-in for re-election in 1964. In death, he is lionized in ways he would not had he lived to a ripe old age.)
Obama’s initial success is not hard to fathom. The economy was crumbling; the GOP was in disarray; McCain ran a less-than-stirring campaign; and the political pendulum was due to swing left, anyway. All things considered, 2008 was probably destined to be the Democrats’ year.
Add to that Obama’s charismatic presence and the fact that he said all the right things, and his victory was all-but certain. But now his campaign rhetoric is losing its oomph, and he has to govern. And, in my reckoning (and the reckoning of an increasing percentage of the electorate), he rather sucks at it.
Boneheaded economic moves, handouts to preferred constituents, naked power grabs – all reveal The One to be something very less than a messiah. He might survive politically. Perhaps even gain a second term in office. But all can now see that he doesn’t walk on water.
