You've had conversations like these, haven't you?
Barack Obama is like John F. Kennedy: achieving political fame on the strength of their Democratic Convention speeches and their books; mastering a healthy combination of intellect and charisma; dominating the new media to their benefit (Jack, the TV; Barack, YouTube and the netroots).
Barack Obama is like Bobby Kennedy: bent on restoring America's moral leadership after a period of darkness and war (napalm, then, torture, now). Both of them inspiring almost religious passion in overcrowded rallies.
Barack Obama is like McGovern: the anti-war candidates of eggheads and African-Americans. Clinton supporters cite this one often.
Barack Obama is like Jimmy Carter: his idealistic foreign policy will clash against a dangerous and treacherous world; his good intentions will be pulverized by bad timing, expensive gas, a crumbling economy... Conservative America will blame it all on him. I've heard this one a lot.
Barack Obama is like Ronald Reagan: the perennially sunny candidate with a simple message and powerful communication skills that could appeal to crossover voters and restore confidence in America's leadership.
Barack Obama is like Gary Hart: an impressive insurgent campaign, but where's the beef, said Mondale and Clinton.
Barack Obama is like Jesse Jackson: this one is Bill Clinton's favorite.
Barack Obama is like Dukakis: compliments of Paul Begala.
Barack Obama is like Bill Clinton: both bookish and a man of the people; with enough charisma and rock-star appeal to make you feel like you're the only person in the room in his presence.
Barack Obama is like Howard Dean: another candidate propped by the netroots and doomed to failure.
Barack Obama is like John Kerry: an Ivy-League, out-of-touch elitist that will lose white voters to his conservative opponent in the general election. Another loss for Bob Shrum and his people.
Barack Obama would like to be like... Abraham Lincoln: the odd-looking, almost unknown Congressman with almost no experience that came from Illinois and transformed the politics of this country. His style? He never failed to see the humanity of his opponents.
All of this is fun, but you know it's not true. We engage in static analysis to our peril. It's a new day, a new candidate, a new electorate, new issues, new media, and, above all, a new political context in which the conservative revolution is in retreat and the possibilities are endless. Of course, part of it is Obama's newness. He's like a blank slate onto which we project our hopes and fears. But in this short time, there are already objective numbers by which to measure the succesful campaign of an African-American junior senator with no name recognition: the numbers of donors, the money raised, the army of volunteers, the millions of voters excited about a primary. None of that has any comparison possible.