Obama Supporters, Do you expect to be disppointed with The One a year hence?

[Torie]

Assuming Obama wins of course. Here is an article in the WSJ by Fouad Ajami who thinks that state of disillusionment is  inevitable in due course when the magician's magic box turns out to be a grand illusion. Isn't disillusionment always the end product of illusion? He does make the point with some erudition better than I have done,  that the meltdown has driven some rugged individuals towards the nanny state.

I will put some snippets. You can read the balance at the link.

    * OCTOBER 30, 2008

Obama and the Politics of Crowds
The masses greeting the candidate on the trail are a sign of great unease.
By FOUAD AJAMI

There is something odd -- and dare I say novel -- in American politics about the crowds that have been greeting Barack Obama on his campaign trail. Hitherto, crowds have not been a prominent feature of American politics. We associate them with the temper of Third World societies. We think of places like Argentina and Egypt and Iran, of multitudes brought together by their zeal for a Peron or a Nasser or a Khomeini. In these kinds of societies, the crowd comes forth to affirm its faith in a redeemer: a man who would set the world right.
...

On the face of it, there is nothing overwhelmingly stirring about Sen. Obama. There is a cerebral quality to him, and an air of detachment. He has eloquence, but within bounds. After nearly two years on the trail, the audience can pretty much anticipate and recite his lines. The political genius of the man is that he is a blank slate. The devotees can project onto him what they wish. The coalition that has propelled his quest -- African-Americans and affluent white liberals -- has no economic coherence. But for the moment, there is the illusion of a common undertaking -- Canetti's feeling of equality within the crowd. The day after, the crowd will of course discover its own fissures. The affluent will have to pay for the programs promised the poor. The redistribution agenda that runs through Mr. Obama's vision is anathema to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and the hedge-fund managers now smitten with him. Their ethos is one of competition and the justice of the rewards that come with risk and effort. All this is shelved, as the devotees sustain the candidacy of a man whose public career has been a steady advocacy of reining in the market and organizing those who believe in entitlement and redistribution.

A creature of universities and churches and nonprofit institutions, the Illinois senator, with the blessing and acquiescence of his upscale supporters, has glided past these hard distinctions. On the face of it, it must be surmised that his affluent devotees are ready to foot the bill for the new order, or are convinced that after victory the old ways will endure, and that Mr. Obama will govern from the center. Ambiguity has been a powerful weapon of this gifted candidate: He has been different things to different people, and he was under no obligation to tell this coalition of a thousand discontents, and a thousand visions, the details of his political programs: redistribution for the poor, postracial absolution and "modernity" for the upper end of the scale.

It was no accident that the white working class was the last segment of the population to sign up for the Obama journey. Their hesitancy was not about race. They were men and women of practicality; they distrusted oratory, they could see through the falseness of the solidarity offered by this campaign. They did not have much, but believed in the legitimacy of what little they had acquired. They valued work and its rewards. They knew and heard of staggering wealth made by the Masters of the Universe, but held onto their faith in the outcomes that economic life decreed. The economic hurricane that struck America some weeks ago shook them to the core. They now seek protection, the shelter of the state, and the promise of social repair. The bonuses of the wizards who ran the great corporate entities had not bothered them. It was the spectacle of the work of the wizards melting before our eyes that unsettled them.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the late Democratic senator from New York, once set the difference between American capitalism and the older European version by observing that America was the party of liberty, whereas Europe was the party of equality. Just in the nick of time for the Obama candidacy, the American faith in liberty began to crack. The preachers of America's decline in the global pecking order had added to the panic. Our best days were behind us, the declinists prophesied. The sun was setting on our imperium, and rising in other lands.

...

The morning after the election, the disappointment will begin to settle upon the Obama crowd. Defeat -- by now unthinkable to the devotees -- will bring heartbreak. Victory will steadily deliver the sobering verdict that our troubles won't be solved by a leader's magic.
 

[Ban my account ffs!]

The One (praise be made to His name) can do no wrong.  All our problems are becuz the rethuglicants sux@!!!$@ lolz1

[dead0man]

inevitable

[Eraserhead]

*shrugs*

who knows

[opebo]

I think it is quite unlikely that he gets elected, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was a bit more aggressively liberal than naysayers have suggested.  Though odds are we will never get to find out.

[riceowl]

no, but im not expecting much.

that's what makes life great...looooow expectations.

[Franzl]

I won't be disappointed, seeing as I never bought the hope and change garbage.

I think Obama is the better candidate...but that's it.

[MODU]

He likes pie.  That's all that we need to know.

[Sbane]

inevitable

^^^
Looking on the bright side, at least we won't have a war in Iran.

[Lief 🗽]

I mean, sure, a little bit. I'm considerably more pro-freedom and pro-equality than any candidate who's going to become president any time soon, but Obama's pretty good. Like Opebo, I think the situation we find ourselves in may push him to be a bit more leftist than he appears at the moment, but I'm not expecting LBJ or FDR II.

[minionofmidas]

Yes.

Oh, and: safe assumption.

[The Ex-Factor]

Like Openo and Lief, I fully expect to be disappointed, because it will be impossible for him to govern as far to the left as I would like. We've seen traces of this with his vote on FISA and shift to the center on foreign policy during this election.

Even so, I just went looking for issues I had with him, and I couldn't find as many as I was looking for. Sure, his anti-NAFTA rhetoric during the primaries stunk, but we all know that he's no hard-line protectionist. I also fully don't expect to get universal healthcare in his first term. Most of that is because it's pragmatically unviable in the midst of a financial crisis, but part of it is because he does not seem as passionate about it as Hillary Clinton. His support of school vouchers and merit pay also makes me wince. But there's a lot to like for a liberal. His diplomacy-centered foreign policy is a refreshing change from Mr. Bush, his environmental (voting) record is strong, and he'll revert tax levels back to the Reagan era.  (Or, if you're a Republican, redistribute the wealth. Whatever you want to call it, it works for me.)

No one here really thinks Obama is going to be the Messiah. But based on his admittedly thin resume he's a far more appealing option than liberals have had for a long, long time which is why enthusiasm levels are so high.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

His sh**tty  third way centrist policies will still be light-years better than McCain's. There are many issues where I disagree with Obama, but that's a lot better than the basically 0% agreement I have with McCain.

[Bono]

no, but im not expecting much.

that's what makes life great...looooow expectations.

[© tweed]

the only way he meets expectations is if he gets assassinated.

[The Mikado]

Honestly, I think he's about where I am (besides some demagoguery on trade).  And, to tell the truth, our problems are so vast that I think 2009 might very well be a worse year than 2008.  I already have factored that in to my expectations for the Obama Administration.  So, no, to not hit my expectations, he'd need to send more forces to Iraq, attack Syria and Iran, kill (rather than modify) the Colombian deal, appoint his personal lawyer to the Supreme Court (Harriet Miers FTW!), and suddenly buy off on austerity and fiscal discipline at the absolute worst time for them.  Barring that, he'll have met or exceeded my expectations.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Not really, as I expect him to be a poor President (though hopefully not as bad as Clinton. If he turns out to be that bad, then, yeah, I suppose I'll count as being disappointed). A lot of his supporters here (and elsewhere) will be, of course. Perhaps seriously so. But, interestingly, many will instead use it as a way to leave behind their liberal-activisty selves and move into the dull mainstream of the Democratic Party.

[Хahar 🤔]

Anything good that happens will be a pleasant surprise.

[Nym90]

It would seem that "expecting to be disappointed" is a contradiction in terms, no?

[Nym90]

Not really, as I expect him to be a poor President (though hopefully not as bad as Clinton. If he turns out to be that bad, then, yeah, I suppose I'll count as being disappointed). A lot of his supporters here (and elsewhere) will be, of course. Perhaps seriously so. But, interestingly, many will instead use it as a way to leave behind their liberal-activisty selves and move into the dull mainstream of the Democratic Party.

I refuse to become bitter and cynical, and so thus yes, I may well be disappointed. But damn it, I'm going to enjoy myself in the meantime.

With the only Presidents I remember being Reagan, the two Bushes, and Clinton, though, it doesn't take much for Obama to impress me. I'm not as lucky as you to have truly pro-labor candidates that I can actually vote for beyond the statewide level.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Yes, and I already am.

If anything within a year of his first term as President, Obama won't drastically shift to the left wing of the political spectrum, but rather the right. It always happens with these young idealistic types.

[dead0man]

Have you ever wondered why they'd do that?

[Ogre Mage]

No, because I wasn't overly impressed to begin with.

[dead0man]

Geez!  And I thought the Pubbies picked a candidate they all felt "meh" about.  Talk about setting your sites low.  Democrats are depressing even in victory.

[Ogre Mage]

Let's call it a healthy skepticism.  Obama has little track record in high-level politics (Illinois state senate service isn't high level) for us to look at, so there isn't a definite record for us to be impressed by.  I'll be impressed when he proves himself.  Unquestioned hero-worship of politicians is dangerous and can lead a nation in a dangerous direction if enough people do it.  Republicans did plenty of hero-worship of Bush up until the last few years.  We can see how that turned out.