Then What?

In a number of recent posts, I’ve argued that Barack Obama’s campaign for the Presidency has a strange cult-like quality that is, well, creepy and troubling at the same time. However, it appears that more than a few Democrats and a growing number of Obama supporters are beginning to express doubts about him, now that the avatar of hope and change is a legitimate front-runner. Margery Eagan writes:

I’m an Obama girl and my man throttled Hillary Clinton, again, Tuesday night.

Suddenly, the impossible is real.

Suddenly, I’m nervous. Very nervous, actually.

I’m nervous because an otherwise normal grownup told me yesterday she’s watched the will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) “Yes We Can” Obama video about 100 times and gets “weepy” every time.

I’m nervous because a longtime political type, normally quite cynical, now waxes rhapsodic about Obama’s “cool.”

“He’s elegant, controlled, the best-dressed candidate ever,” he says. Never a red tie, yellow or bright blue. No, Obama does a subdued lean charcoal gray suit with a gray or silvery tie. Everything muted, measured, fluid. “He floats onto the stage, a bit of the Fred Astaire thing going.”

Fred Astaire?

Eagan, a Boston Herald columnist, goes on to enumerate celebrities, columnists, TV commentators, and average people who appear to be mesmerized by Obama’s charm.

But the issues themselves are what she’s beginning to think about. She writes:

I’m nervous because Harvard political genius Elaine Kamarck told me Hillary understands the various messes we’re in far better than Obama.

Suppose Kamarck’s right?

I’m nervous about the “O’Bambi” factor. Will the terrorists move in next door when Obama’s in the White House?

I’m nervous because Michelle Obama, about whom I just wrote a fawning puff piece, now says that until her husband’s stunning ascendancy, she’s never before been proud of America. Huh?

Barack now claims she didn’t mean it. Oh, yes she did. We all know the insufferable, holier-than-thou, Blame-America-First types who lecture the unwashed from the rarefied air of Cambridge and Brookline.

But all of that is supposition. It’s certainly possible that Obama will do well. Will understand, and not let his extremely Left-leaning ideology get in the way of making solid decisions.

Finally, however, Eagan gets around to the experience issue—an issue that allows us to understand where Obama stands and more importantly, what he might do in certain situations. Problem is, there’s very, very little to look at. Eagan writes:

I’m nervous because even his biggest fans can’t name Obama’s accomplishments, including Texas state Sen. Kirk Watson, an Obama-man who humiliated himself when MSNBC’s Chris Matthews asked him about five times to name something, anything, Obama’s done. Watson hemmed. Watson hawed. Watson gave up.

I’m nervous because John McCain says Obama's is “an eloquent but empty call for change” and in the wee, wee hours, a nagging voice whispers, suppose McCain’s right, too? Then what?

Indeed, then what?