Is Barack Obama becoming the new Che Guevara?

[Keystone Phil]

Please don't turn this into "You guys are just jealous!" or "Yeah, they're all a bunch of brain washed freaks!" Let's try a civil conversation on why Obama is or isn't Che-like.


I'm not saying that all of his supporters are crazy or anything like that but isn't this stuff getting to be a bit much?

On my way to and from school, I pass through some rough areas. The roughest area closest to my campus is a predominately black neighborhood. There is an abandoned wharehouse that I pass by that began to stick out the other day. It had two of the posters (that I posted above) plastered outside.

I started to think to myself that it is great that people have such faith and hope with their candidate. It's great that they're so excited. Then I remembered what has always worried me: there seems to be too much passion about this guy. It's one thing to trust your candidate and have hope but it's become a blind following. I see these posters and these t-shirts and I get to thinking that Obama really is the new Che to so many people.

If you want to think that Obama is some type of revolutionary, fine. I'm going to respectfully disagree but if you have something serious that can back up that claim, more power to you. But the blind allegiance...it really is something to worry about...

[War on Want]

No, mostly because he will become president and then most of the enthusiasm will vanish in 6 months or so besides maybe in the African-American community. That will vanish in a much longer time but I don't think he will be that popular as president with a large recession on the table, high gas prices and probable big foriegn policy desicions to make.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

No; he's no different than many a charismatic leader in American history.

[bgwah]

Not really anymore cultist or worrisome than the >25% of people who still "approve" of George W. Bush.

[phk]

Sorry just had to.

[Keystone Phil]

No, mostly because he will become president and then most of the enthusiasm will vanish in 6 months or so besides maybe in the African-American community. That will vanish in a much longer time but I don't think he will be that popular as president with a large recession on the table, high gas prices and probable big foriegn policy desicions to make.

Hmmm...this is actually a very good point and I agree with it, to an extent.

I have always been one to say that the Obama glow will dim when he can't deliver on everything. I think a lot of his supporters (even some of the hardcore Obama backers) will feel betrayed. However, I also think this could cause some of the hardcore supporters to rally to his defense even more than they do now when the GOP starts calling him out on broken promises and other stuff.

[War on Want]

No, mostly because he will become president and then most of the enthusiasm will vanish in 6 months or so besides maybe in the African-American community. That will vanish in a much longer time but I don't think he will be that popular as president with a large recession on the table, high gas prices and probable big foriegn policy desicions to make.

Hmmm...this is actually a very good point and I agree with it, to an extent.

I have always been one to say that the Obama glow will dim when he can't deliver on everything. I think a lot of his supporters (even some of the hardcore Obama backers) will feel betrayed. However, I also think this could cause some of the hardcore supporters to rally to his defense even more than they do now when the GOP starts calling him out on broken promises and other stuff.

I think the ones that will feel "betrayed" maybe, or just felt like they made a mistake in voting for him will be the college or yuppie crowd unless Obama makes lots of needed reforms and things really improve with the economy. These voters,even with the struggling economy, have a decent chance to become richer and of course age so along with their views changing and Obama not performing well should make them switch their votes.
Hardcore supporters that will rally to his defence will probably be in the Black community almost forever. I think that they have found a kind of brotherhood with him and Obama is now their candidate and so they will probably have a staunch support of him. Now of course I am sure if Obama is a failure I expect Jesse Jackson and Sharpton to call him a racetraitor or something.

[bgwah]

I think a more accurate title would be the new Ronald Reagan.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Only insofar as he's whored himself out to become a brand.

[Democratic Hawk]

No, Obama is a Christian Democrat not a liberation theologist - or was Guevara an atheist?

Obama is charismatic sure; but he just exudes cool, calm and collectedness, civility and dignity, no matter how tough the going gets for him and that is appealing

When it comes to temperament, I'd take Obama any day over the histrionic, melodramatic, erratic McCain . I can imagine McCain throwing a right hissy fit, complete with feet stomping, when his campaign "suspension" stunt failed to reap the rush in the polls towards him that he had been hoping for

Dave

[Politico]

I believe that comparing Obama and his supporters to Guevara and his supporters is insinuating that Obama and his supporters do not fully back American ideals, which is not true. Obama and his supporters love America and all that stands for, including its system of democratic capitalism. Neither Obama nor his supporters are communists/socialists like Guevara, et al.

A more apt, patriotic and less divisive question would be whether or not Obama is becoming the new JFK of his generation (i.e., a once-in-a-generation charismatic candidate of change). I think the answer is clearly a resounding yes. Clearly no candidate since Ronald Reagan has garnered such an enormous amount of popularity prior to becoming president.

[Nym90]

Reagan would be the best comparison. Some near cultish followers, charismatic, comes into office during a time of economic distress and declining American strength in the world due to foreign policy failures, his party makes large gains in Congress at the same time as his Presidential victory, etc.

Democrats tried to argue in 1980, as Republicans do with Obama now, that Reagan was a celebrity with no experience, would be a dangerous change of direction in foreign and domestic affairs, etc.

For the similarity in the elections to be complete, Democrats would've had to nominate Kennedy in 1980 instead of Carter; for that reason, McCain won't lose as badly as Carter did. He'll instead do about as well as Kennedy would've done (5-6 point loss).

[J. J.]

Reagan would be the best comparison. Some near cultish followers, charismatic, comes into office during a time of economic distress and declining American strength in the world due to foreign policy failures, his party makes large gains in Congress at the same time as his Presidential victory, etc.

Democrats tried to argue in 1980, as Republicans do with Obama now, that Reagan was a celebrity with no experience, would be a dangerous change of direction in foreign and domestic affairs, etc.

Except, let's be honest, in 1980 Reagan had been governor of the largest state in the Union and had run for president twice before. 

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I think Kennedy would have done much worse in 1980.

[afleitch]

There were similar pop art inspired posters circulating when Nixon was running for re-election. It's not a new phenomenon.

[Ban my account ffs!]

No, Obama is not Che and frankly I get really tired of Republicans constantly mocking my (and everybody's) support of Obama, as if we're just some kind of sheep.

I came to my support of Obama because his message is hope and he is pushing for some needed reform and offers a fresh face and a fundamental change in the way we view our country and the world.  This election is largely a choice between "change" and "refurbished same old stuff"... The conservative policies of the past 30 years brought a lot of short term profit and gain.  Reagan's lowering of taxes on the rich was a good way to spur investment at a time of high inflation when taxes were historically quite high.

There comes a point where applying the exact same principles to every problem that comes your way no longer flies with the American public, let alone actually works.

I personally find the right's absolute avoidance of the issues in this election to be very telling.  Instead, we'll focus on McCain's military service and how cute Sarah Palin can be to woo over the men...

I've lost nearly all of my respect for McCain as he has fumbled his way through this campaign becoming ever more desperate and throwing punches at anybody he can to try and get attention and not simply peter away into irrelevance.

It's funny how when the tide was with the Republicans.. it was all because the Democrats were whiners and anti-American and they were going to collapse as a party and the Republicans were going to have a permanent majority... any criticism by the left and particularly references to fascism were met with calls of "oh, you Democrats are just jealous and desperate!!"

Now the tide is on our side and we're "cultists" and Obama is some nutzo commie revolutionary... please..

[phk]

Reagan would be the best comparison. Some near cultish followers, charismatic, comes into office during a time of economic distress and declining American strength in the world due to foreign policy failures, his party makes large gains in Congress at the same time as his Presidential victory, etc.

Democrats tried to argue in 1980, as Republicans do with Obama now, that Reagan was a celebrity with no experience, would be a dangerous change of direction in foreign and domestic affairs, etc.

Except, let's be honest, in 1980 Reagan had been governor of the largest state in the Union and had run for president twice before. 

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I think Kennedy would have done much worse in 1980.

What year did Reagan run before 1976?

[Joe Republic]

What year did Reagan run before 1976?

1968.  He won more votes than Nixon overall in the primaries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_presidential_election#The_primaries

[Stranger in a strange land]

more like Reagan: beloved by his party, and some take it to an excess, wanting bridges, airports, roads, and rivers named after him, and wanting to plaster his image on Mt. Rushmore, public squares, and even the currency.

People who idolize Obama and wear his image on T-shirts and suchlike bother me a lot less than the 25% or so who still approve of George W. Bush because the Obama t-shirt wearers will probably stop doing so once he gets into office.

[Keystone Phil]

No, Obama is a Christian Democrat not a liberation theologist - or was Guevara an atheist?

That's not what I meant.

I believe that comparing Obama and his supporters to Guevara and his supporters is insinuating that Obama and his supporters do not fully back American ideals, which is not true. Obama and his supporters love America and all that stands for, including its system of democratic capitalism. Neither Obama nor his supporters are communists/socialists like Guevara, et al.

A more apt, patriotic and less divisive question would be whether or not Obama is becoming the new JFK of his generation (i.e., a once-in-a-generation charismatic candidate of change). I think the answer is clearly a resounding yes. Clearly no candidate since Ronald Reagan has garnered such an enormous amount of popularity prior to becoming president.

I'm basing it on the fanaticism; not on the ideology of the two groups/figures.

more like Reagan: beloved by his party, and some take it to an excess, wanting bridges, airports, roads, and rivers named after him, and wanting to plaster his image on Mt. Rushmore, public squares,

...or JFK.

[Democratic Hawk]

No, Obama is a Christian Democrat not a liberation theologist - or was Guevara an atheist?

That's not what I meant.

I know that now. Took me a while to get it. Getting old, like Johnny Mac

Nevertheless, that's what Obama is, albeit a liberal-leaning one. Douglas Kmiec has endorsed him for president as the candidate of Catholic values. My father was a Catholic, for whom fairness and social justice mattered

Dave

[perdedor]

No. Obama is not a communist, an authoritarian, or a militant. To compare the two men and their supporters is asinine.

[Keystone Phil]

No. Obama is not a communist, an authoritarian, or a militant. To compare the two men and their supporters is asinine.

So you didn't read my thoughts. Not surprising.

[Sensei]

no. Obama isn't a revolutionary, and he won't achieve his means through murder.

[JohnCA246]

Obama really is the Reagan of the liberals.  Conservatives had been left a cadre of uninspiring personalities for some time, and the nation had lost its sense of pride.  Reagan tapped that, but his appeal was to a different segment of society.

The appeal of Obama to liberals is the same.  Al Gore, John Kerry, Dukakis and even latter years Clinton did not inspire.  For my generation, it is the first time the left has been excited about ANY candidate.  In fairness to Obama, he is not responsible for much of the pop art.  It is laregly an expression of the youth and African American community.  For instance the person that made the Hope sticker has nothing to do witht he Obama candidate.  He also designed the famous OBEY sticker, so he is doing the same thing hes always done, but is not supporting a candidate rather than just "raging against the machine."  Going to the Convention was truly inspiring, not because of anything Obama said, but the amount of people that got into poltics for the first time, and were pretty ordinary. Just about the enitre San Diego county delegation was under 35 and at least 3 under 25.   One can say many of us are naive or idealistic, but I would not say "brainwashed" or worshipers.  Well ok, maybe a few middle aged women took it a bit far but...you get my drift. 

Obama is the first candidate to wini the enthusiasm of this decade, and they express it differently than past generations. 

RFK, Reagan, and Obama tap into the same need in society.  A charasmatic leader that inspires in a time where national pride and confidence are lacking. 

[Brittain33]

no. Obama isn't a revolutionary, and he won't achieve his means through murder.

This.