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The trap from which Obama cannot extricate himself
Jonah Goldberg brings out an interesting aspect of the health care summit: the more Obama talked (and he talked more than all of the Republicans combined), the more condescending, prickly, and unlikable he became. Which leads Goldberg to a further theory of the fall of Obama. The president and his circle of advisors find him captivating, charming, brilliant, therefore they think that the more people are exposed to him, the more they will like him and go along with his ideas. But the reality is just the opposite: the more people are exposed to him, the more they see the weakness and falsity of his arguments, and the more they are turned off by him personally. But Obama, because of his supreme narcissism, cannot see this. So, when people reject his positions, he thinks it’s because they have not been sufficiently subjected to his charms and his brilliance. So he increases his public appearances and speeches and his efforts to win people over on health care, which only turns people off on him all the more.
If Obama were narcissistic, and also as likable and intelligent as he thought he was, he probably would have gotten away with it. But to be intensely narcissistic and also intensely dislikable and wrong-headed is, well, a fatal attraction. Email entry |