Obama: a natural man for our time?

Ben W. writes:

I’ve been considering two things:

1. Why and how Obama can personally come across in such a natural way, although his liberalism is seemingly not in the American grain,

2. How Obama can be ahead in the polls, even though most conservative commentators say that he does not resonate with the mainstream American electorate?

So how can Obama be such a natural if his liberalism is not consonant with American nature? How can he resonate with a large part of the American population if his ideology is extremely out of the way?

His campaign may be a big con job, or it may be the natural way American history and culture has evolved (for better or for worse). Obama is a grandchild of the 1960s and that era has set the moral and cultural tone for America. Thus Obama is really flowing with the stream, and his movements are therefore natural. He is not swimming against the current, so his persona is “natural” and smooth.

His liberalism is ingrained in his psyche, so there is no division between his persona and the national culture. The 1960s have made a lasting imprint on the American psyche, and this is what conservatives are really fighting against in the persona of Obama. If one reads his two books, his search for identity is one Sixties pit stop and landmark after another. Which is why figures like McCain and Palin seem like characters out of a time warp.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at October 25, 2008 01:52 PM | Send