A Real Messianic Celebrity

It's pretty sad when the worst thing you can say about your opponent is that he's too damn popular.  Yet that's where McCain and his Republican handlers are right now, questioning whether someone who actually can fill a football stadium full of enthusiastic activists is worthy of the presidency.  Far better to limit your audiences to a few dozen loyalists who can tolerate watching your cottage-cheese pallor swimming in a sea of green.

The worst part of the tut-tutting about Obama's resonance with the voters is that Barack isn't even that good at the rock star thing.  He's really just an earnest, hard-working, wonky guy from Chicago who happens to be a really good speaker, and who moved his big speech to a big venue because a big number of people want to watch.  You want theater?  You want a sense of larger than life drama?  You want true messianic celebrity?  

John McCain's pal George Bush showed us how it's done.

He knew how to dress the part.



Greek columns?  Feh.  Bush knew how to stage a truly grandiose background shot.



His devoted followers celebrated him as a secular rock star . . .



And as a prophetic leader anointed by the Almighty.



He even used his Svengali-like hold on the nation to launch a Crusade.

It's clear that Obama has a long way to go before he can hope to compete with Bush as the cultivator of a cult of personality.  But hey, if McCain wants to keep reminding Americans that Barack is a popular guy, he should feel free to continue.