{"id":4782,"date":"2008-02-21T11:49:20","date_gmt":"2008-02-21T11:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2008\/02\/the-cult-of-barack-obama.html"},"modified":"2008-02-21T11:49:20","modified_gmt":"2008-02-21T11:49:20","slug":"the-cult-of-barack-obama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2008\/02\/the-cult-of-barack-obama.html","title":{"rendered":"The cult of Barack Obama"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know, for the rest of us who aren’t under Obama’s spell, this is pretty darn freaky, you realize that don’t you?<\/p>\n

“This is not a campaign for president of the United States, this is a movement to change the world,” he said as he introduced Obama last week in Baltimore.
\n“You do not get 13,000 people in this auditorium with a campaign.”
\nAs over the top as it may have sounded, Cummings’ sentiments weren’t all that unusual.
\nBecause when it comes to Obama, hyperbole seems to be the rule, not the exception.
\nHis charms seem tough to resist, even for some of Hollywood\u2019s biggest names.
\n“He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere, anywhere,” George Clooney told talk show host Charlie Rose.
\n“I’ll do whatever he says to do,” actress Halle Berry said to the Philadelphia Daily News. “I’ll collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.”
\nWelcome to the cult of Barack Obama.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How can anyone live up to this kind of hype?<\/p>\n

A competing narrative has formed in recent weeks in which opponents try to turn Obama\u2019s popularity into a negative by hinting that there\u2019s something uninformed and empty \u2014 or just plain creepy<\/strong> \u2014 about his impassioned support.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Um…yeah? Halle Berry said she would do whatever he said, that’s a little weird, don’t you think?
\nOne day these people are going to look back and wonder why:<\/p>\n

At an Omaha, Neb., rally the day before, supporters leaned perilously over railings, screaming and crying, trying to touch Obama as he passed.
\nDuring both speeches, a supporter yelled out, “I love you.” This happens fairly frequently and Obama is always ready with a smooth answer.
\n[…]
\n“I can’t really verbalize exactly what it is about him,” says Avila. “Part of it is just beyond explanation.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That seems to happen to a lot of his supporters<\/a>.
\n(via<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know, for the rest of us who aren’t under Obama’s spell, this is pretty darn freaky, you realize that don’t you? “This is not a campaign for president of the United States, this is a movement to change the world,” he said as he introduced Obama last week in Baltimore. “You do not get…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[399,402],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-2","category-religion-2"],"yoast_head":"\nThe cult of Barack Obama - Reformed Chicks Blabbing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/reformedchicksblabbing\/2008\/02\/the-cult-of-barack-obama.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The cult of Barack Obama - Reformed Chicks Blabbing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You know, for the rest of us who aren’t under Obama’s spell, this is pretty darn freaky, you realize that don’t you? 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