2008-09-18 Here's looking at you, kid

2008-09-18  The Economist \Barack Obama/campaign\The Case Against Barack Obama http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12252991&CFID=23065298&CFTOKEN=77359466 Here's looking at you, kid Here's looking at you, kid  If you find yourself believing that â€œwe are the ones weâ€™ve been waiting forâ€, or that â€œthis is the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slowâ€ or even, tout court, that â€œyes we canâ€, the chances are that you are suffering from a severe case of Obamamania. Tens of millions of Americans and an even larger number of Europeans have fallen victim to the syndrome, which involves a belief that a young black senator from Chicago can cure the worldâ€™s ills, in part because of his race, in part because of his obvious intelligence and rhetorical skill; but in no part because of any record of achievement in the past. Fortunately, an inexpensive remedy is at hand. It comes in the form of a new book by David Freddoso, â€œThe Case Against Barack Obamaâ€. ,,, Sometimes, however, Mr Freddoso lets his own partisan nature run away with him. It strikes the reader as odd to make an issue out of the Obamasâ€™ comfortable income, when everyone knows that John McCain and Hillary Clinton both have family fortunes in excess of $100m. On the whole, though, Mr Freddoso raises legitimate points. And he ends with a question Obamamaniacs should ask themselves more often: â€œDo you hope that Barack Obama will change politics if he becomes president? On what grounds?â€ This sets the bar for Obama very high indeed, and one is left with the implication that perhaps one should not vote for Obama if he does not meet it – despite the fact that this is the wrong criterion for a binary/bipolar voting decision. The real criterion is "will he be better than McCain?", and the answer seemed pretty clearly "yes" from the data available up to the end of the election.

&ldquo;If you find yourself believing that â€œwe are the ones weâ€™ve been waiting forâ€, or that â€œthis is the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slowâ€ or even, tout court, that â€œyes we canâ€, the chances are that you are suffering from a severe case of Obamamania.&rdquo;   