CSM - Barack Obama and the case for charisma

[roseBudd]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20080228/cm_csm/yzellekebennis;_ylt=AnvqUgaWYCtkhpceW0K.zces0NUE

Barack Obama and the case for charisma By Warren Bennis and Andy Zelleke
Thu Feb 28, 3:00 AM ET



Los Angeles; and Cambridge, Mass. - Among this season's presidential candidates, Barack Obama has clearly had the edge when it comes to that magical quality known as charisma. Pundits of every political stripe have commented on Senator Obama's "rock-star quality." After meeting him, even the most jaded political reporters have been known to report that he is something rare and special, the heir to such charismatic predecessors as John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.


In each generation, a few public figures come along who have a personal magnetism that makes strangers care deeply about them. Call it star power, call it charisma, this infrequent gift is akin to the power that great actors have.

According to legend, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was introduced to Orson Welles, he said graciously: "You know, Mr. Welles, you are the greatest actor in America." "Oh, no, Mr. President," Welles replied, "You are." What Welles recognized in Roosevelt is that political leadership is a performance art as surely as is acting on stage or in films.

When charismatic politicians such as Obama speak, they are able to turn a room full of strangers into a community rich in shared meaning, just as a great actor creates such a community within a theater. Whether such rock-star politicians talk about change or healthcare policy, they articulate a vision that those in the audience quickly make their own.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Only in the Democratic party are people anxious and suspicious about

a candidate with actual charisma, charm, coolness and likability. Do we fucking shoot ourselves in the foot, or what? Let's forget Obama, and go with someone polarizing and grating--or better yet--let's get John Kerry! Is Walter Mondale still alive? How about Dukakis, I hear he's whining about something, somehwere in Massachusetts.

[crim son]

2. I remember hearing the same thing said about the shrub

but then it was good & genuine. :sarcasm:

[roseBudd]

3. his is more frat boy flavor

[Skittles]

4. reagan too

"charisma" does not have a good track record

[crim son]

5. Indeed. Hitler was, apparently, very charismatic.

I have a hard time believing it, frankly, but I've been told it's true by people who were living in Germany at the time. I wonder why the word has come up in reference to Obama. Hmmmmm.

[Skittles]

6. aw now

sarcasm, right? I don't care much for Hitler references; they give me the willies :o

[crim son]

7. Not sarcasm; unfortunate truth.

Charisma can be portrayed as a positive or a negative i.e. that people are "charmed" into liking Obama, rather than liking him for his platform.

Sorry to have offended you though.

[Skittles]

8. I do agree that charisma is vastly overrated

I just, well, Hitler.......*SHUDDER*

[Joe Chi Minh]

9. "Hope makes for a good breakfast, but a bad supper" seems pertinent,

as people may be about to find out to their cost.