Calm Down

The New York Times reminds us that, for Barack Obama, overly high voter expectations can be curse, because they're impossible to meet and ornery journalists start trying to dig out flaws so they can have a new story angle besides "Obama is the next Jesus." In other words, folks like me need to back off the constant Obama-worshipping, lest we sink his entire political career. If your expectations are low, they can be exceeded, and exceeding expectations is always impressive.

I'm reminded of an old Daily Show segment that ran before the Kerry/Bush debates, where both campaigns engaged in a battle to lower expectations. Bush's camp claimed that Kerry was "the greatest orator since Cicero" who should stomp Bush due to his mental retardation, and Kerry's camp responded that Bush was such a strong and convincing orator, that even he was going to vote for him.

In any event, I don't care how you spin it--Obama is something special. But for his benefit, I'll lay low for awhile until it's his time.

[H/T: Paul Butler]