Why did Obama win the election? There are a number of obvious reasons why Obama bested John McCain in the November elections including his uncanny talent to raise money nearly three times as much as the Republicans by not only opting out of public financing but cleverly exploiting the power of the internet to reach out and attract new and young voters to his candidacy. Then there was his superior grassroots organization in the key battle ground states and his unprecedented favorable press coverage by the elite media. However, ultimately it came down to Obamas raw charisma, innate intelligence, and persuasive eloquence to inspire voters across all ethnicities and economic classes to believe in his message of "change" and "hope". This wasn't too difficult given the country's dissatisfaction with President Bush and the Republicans. But perhaps the more important question is not WHY Obama won but HOW he won. How did a virtually unknown antiestablishment outsider with limited political experience become the 44th President of the United States?
I submit that Barack Obama, the media's favorite candidate, won primarily through the creation of a powerful "cult of personality". His campaign along with a complicit media effectively exploited Barack Obama's charismatic persona, soaring rhetoric, and the grandiose overarching themes of hope and change in pithy slogans like "Yes We Can" and "Change We Need".
Did the mainstream media help Obama build a personality cult to win the Presidency? Is there any doubt? Obama's cult of personality was not so much an oversight of the fawning media as much as they were sycophants in its creation. The mainstream media even traveled with Obama overseas to be a part of his tour of Iraq and Europe where Obama was greeted as a rock star" and gave a globalist speech in Germany. Another case in point, contrasts the media's treatment of Obama with Sarah Palin. The media all but ignored Obama's associations with the domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and radical preacher Rev. Jeremiah Wright and convicted felon Tony Rezko. In contrast, Palin's daughter's out of wedlock pregnancy and her firing of a state trooper were plastered all over the main stream media. The media excoriated her for her outlandishly expensive wardrobe and less than spectacular interviews with Katie Couric and Charles Gibson. Yet nary a word about Obama being the most liberal legislator in the U.S. Senate or his militant commitment to unrestricted abortion on demand voting against the ban on partial birth abortion while an Illinois Senator.
Since the election Obama has taken his "cult of personality" to new heights and it seems the press now has an agenda to get Obama elected "celebrity in chief" with his visage not only on news magazines but also on the cover of nearly every tabloid and celebrity magazine (People, Us, Self). Recently, a shirtless photo of Obama made front page news on the New York Post under the headline "Fit for Office" with the subtitle "Buff Bam is Hawaii Hunk". Obama is so photogenic and so universally appealing he even made the cover of Tiger Beat Magazine. His cult of personality is also becoming lucrative business. Acolytes can now buy almost anything with Obama's image on it from patriotic gold coins to hip T-shirts, ball caps, and coffee mugs. NBC has even produced a commemorative DVD titled "Yes We Can the Story of Barack Obama" an unusual offering for a hard news organization.
Obamania is becoming rampant. Obama has been described as "The One", "The new face of the 21st century" "The New Messiah", "The first post racial candidate" "A New Hope". Angelina Jolie has said "Obama is more popular than Jesus" and she probably thinks he can walk on water too, Obama that is, we know Jesus can. Obama even has an action figure and a bobble-head doll.
Obama's personality cult has truly created the first "celebrity in chief" and with his historic election appears to be on his way to becoming an American icon (Obamamerica) surpassing even the iconic symbolism of JFK's Camelot. I overheard a rumor that Obama is getting his head measured for Mount Rushmore for a bust right next to his hero Abe Lincoln but that is just a beltway rumor. Couldn't possibly happen, right?