The Messiah-Complex Complex - Barack Obama, White House '08

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Barack Obama

tnr.com - 8/26/2008

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Of all the complaints made against Barack Obama, the one I least understand is that he's some kind of millennial cult leader. An ad for John McCain and endless conservative commentary have harped on the theme of what National Review editor Rich Lowry called Obama's "secular messianism." ...

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Ross Douthat: Dept. of Head-Scratchers

Hit & Run: It Takes a Nation of Whiners to Hold Us Back

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Dept. of Head-Scratchers
Ross Douthat — Like Jon Chait, I don't have the foggiest idea where someone would get the strange, strange notion that Barack Obama is being depicted with language and images usually reserved for a millenial cult leader. Obviously, those fiendish Republicans have made the whole thing up!

The Obamessiah Revisited
Ross Douthat — ... that many people do, in fact, regard Barack Obama in overheated or even quasi-messianic terms. I agree with this. What I don't understand is why Douthat thinks this is a rebuttal to the argument in my latest TRB column about Obama and the charge of messianism. Since my argument apparently was not clear enough, I'll sum it up: ...

It Takes a Nation of Whiners to Hold Us Back
Hit & Run — Jonathan Chait's latest column defends Obama against the charge of messianism. Most of his points are valid. This one is a little too valid: ...