It has been difficult for many Americans to fathom why a political lightweight like Barack Obama has gotten as far as he has. The answer is simple. Forty years of public school education “chickens” have “come home to roost:” thinking and feelings have become interchangeable.

Once one understands this dynamic, everything becomes clear. Barack Obama’s entire presidential campaign–with a giant assist from a “star-struck” media–revolves around being the more “emotionally satisfying” candidate. His handlers have deduced that, for many Americans (perhaps even a voting majority), the most important qualification for president is to be someone who makes them “feel good.”

Thus, it matters not how much he changes positions, mangles policy or grossly underestimates our enemies. Such “details” only matter to Americans who still believe the presidency is a position of utmost seriousness. Many other Americans want someone who, as Chris Matthews put it, makes them feel “a thrill going up my leg.” In a country where reason were ascendant, such a vapidly adolescent endorsement of a candidate’s “expertise” would be a liability. In an America besotted by celebrity, “infotainment,”and ten-second attention spans, “thrilling” may be the ultimate asset.

But what about after the thrill is gone? Emotionalism has its limits. Barack Obama treats serious issues as if they are distractions interfering with his generic message of “change.” Tough questions from the media “annoy” him. A wife who has put herself in the middle of the campaign is ostensibly “off limits.” Anyone who even hints at being a liability to Obama himself is “tossed under the bus.”

And then there’s the arrogance. Arrogance is not a bad quality per se. Tiger Woods is arrogant. The difference is Tiger earned his attitude. Obama thinks he’s entitled to his absent any significant accomplishments. Why? Back to decades of public school philosophy: self-esteem no longer requires achievement. Obama is a man of his time.

And maybe that’s the most damning indictment of all: too many Americans can’t imagine a world where evil doggedly pursues its ends, where actions have consequences, and great power requires great wisdom. For them, it’s all feelings all the time. Barack Obama is the embodiment of their emotional self-absorption.

If he were running for Wizard of Oz, he’d have my vote. President of the United States? As a citizen of Emerald City put it, “that’s a horse of different color.”

atahlert@comcast.net

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