I think I have the same addiction :) I'm constantly checking his website, Dailykos, the polls, the ny times for new stuff, and of course donating money everytime I see Clinton using slimey GOP tactics.

:)

Whoa Troy, the GOP may have their issues, but giving the Clintons dirty tricks and tactics is not one of their sins. :-) the Clintons re-defined dirty politics.

Point me to the 12 step program. I'm hooked as well. I just don't know how to describe the feeling. It is such a foreign feeling. I think Barack has referred to it before as something called "hope". I remember that word from my childhood. I'll have to look it up, but whatever it is, I like it.

Karol, Thanks for the narrative. There was a Republican who called in to C-Span after the Wisconsin dinner speech. He said, "I love that man!" and he vowed he was going to volunteer for him. Well, I am moving to the geezer side of life and I love that man,Obama too. I think he is a good guy, and it's time we had someone like him for a leader.

Great article. And I finally found a description for what I suffer from - addicted to Obama. And when I get nervous and I'm on the edge of my seat worried something will slip up - he steps it up. He's competing head to head with one of the biggest political 'organizations' (the Clinton) of our time and he's coming out ahead!

Keep breathing life into my hope too

karol, thank you for that sweet post. i too feel the rising tide, washing away at my deep cynicism--a cautious optimism that the heavy weight of dysfunctional federal politics that has pressed down on me my entire adult life could be shifting. obama was born the first year of generation x, and thank god[dess] for that because i wasn't we had it in us to lead this country. but our generation and the millennials/digital natives are rising now in america, and sure as hell we are ready for a new day. "pedaling false hope" my ass. the grass roots groundswell for obama is proving that americans haven't completely given up, that our best days could still be before us. and what is unique about most of the obama supporters that i know is that we are not waiting for anyone to do it for us, we are ready to roll up our sleeves and help build a new america. we just need a president that we can be proud of, one who can demonstrate to the world that maybe just maybe americans can transcend our past and finally become honorable global citizens.

Sounds like a bunch of drug addicts or obsessed lovers pining away to me. Not that I would have to hold my nose too hard to cast a vote for Obama, but come on. What's he really got other than a lot of smooth oratory & charisma? Face it, you're in love.

It would be only fair for Blue Oregon to allow an article on Hillary-mania for those of us who are equally passionate about Hillary. No Brian, we are not in love we are madly obsessed and passionate about our choices :)

Peace

I have an opinion

isn't michael jackson just average height (if not short)? i'm guessing no taller than 5'9"-5'10". basically, average.

This is satirical, right?

Some people seem to need a rock star personae to win over their support for a prominent person. Is this kind of need something to encourage, when the supposed beneficiary of the support is a presidential candidate?

Certainly, I don't want to unnecessarily spoil anyone's fun, but I'd just as soon any 'mania' associated with Obama would just go away, because it seems kind of superficial. The more important concern is, after we as voters look beyond the speechwriters, the image creators, the stylists, the primpers, and so on and so on that produce a presidential candidate, does the candidate have the goods to do the job? That's what I'm still trying to figure out about Obama.

Is this 'mania' rising from a sense people are feeling that Obama really does have the goods, or is it just because he looks and sounds less tired than Hillary? Neither one of these candidates has been particularly stunning in terms of freshness and originality of ideas. I'd have to agree though, on the basis of 'mania' response potential alone, Obama would sure be the more likely of the two to produce it. I wonder what Hillary's strategists might be thinking of to ante up Obama on this count.

Amazing,

This is the most sincere post I have ever read on this blog.

She speaks the truth of someone who was once like you. A person who is cynical and afraid to hope and then deciding to believe again that this country is something special and can change for the better.

This is not idol worship she speaks of, it is rediscovering that thing that made our founding fathers believe they could defeat the world's only super power, or made America end slavery and Jim Crow laws, or made our grand parents help save our world from fascism.

I don't know what "it" is called. But I see "it" in the eyes of the NASA Scientists who continue on that "can do" spirit that got America to the moon in less than 9 years and the hippies who protest the war every Saturday morning.

I feel "it" every time I go to the beach clean up one the Oregon Coast and work with hundreds of people helping just because they care.

And I'm willing to bet that you see and feel "it" too. Whatever "it" is it comes with being an American, but I never thought "it" would come into our political dialog.

But Obama has changed my mind about that. He has made me believe, hope, whatever... that we as a nation still has "it" and we can tap into "it" to address the serious issues we are facing today.

It is said that when you fall in love with some you are really falling in love with yourself. In some ways I think that is what Obama has given us. A chance to fall in love with ourselves, our country again. A chance find "it" one more time.

Amazing,

This is the most sincere post I have ever read on this blog.

She speaks the truth of someone who was once like you. A person who is cynical and afraid to hope and then deciding to believe again that this country is something special and can change for the better.

This is not idol worship she speaks of, it is rediscovering that thing that made our founding fathers believe they could defeat the world's only super power, or made America end slavery and Jim Crow laws, or made our grand parents help save our world from fascism.

I don't know what "it" is called. But I see "it" in the eyes of the NASA Scientists who continue on that "can do" spirit that got America to the moon in less than 9 years and the hippies who protest the war every Saturday morning.

I feel "it" every time I go to the beach clean up one the Oregon Coast and work with hundreds of people helping just because they care.

And I'm willing to bet that you see and feel "it" too. Whatever "it" is it comes with being an American, but I never thought "it" would come into our political dialog.

But Obama has changed my mind about that. He has made me believe, hope, whatever... that we as a nation still has "it" and we can tap into "it" to address the serious issues we are facing today.

It is said that when you fall in love with some you are really falling in love with yourself. In some ways I think that is what Obama has given us. A chance to fall in love with ourselves, our country again. A chance find "it" one more time.

Yes, Obama is quite the antidote for cynicism. I can't wait to see what the Clinton campaign comes up with next in its effort to make us cynical again. It won't work with me.

Obama-mania, Hillary-mania, empty campaigns, plagiarism, polls, middle names, last names, all this ruckus and debate..my head is spinning. Time to relax and calm down before the next wave tonight!

Peace out!

Karol's description is so right on. I have been so sure that Obama is the one (for America) and so obsessed with his progress that I have had to stop and ask myself why after a lifetime of distrusting people in power, refusing to join organized anythings, I am so sure of his integrity and fitness to be president. Somebody actually called him the messiah on The Skanner blog. Well I think it is because he represents all kinds of Americans working together. Obama's campaign says people of different races, backgrounds are not natural enemies -- that something larger -- the common good, ties us together. That right there is hope -- something that has just been killed over and over in the greed and corruption of the 80s, 90s and under Bush. We know that people are capable of enormous good even altruism and on the grassroots level --in nonprofits and communities we see people volunteering and working for others all the time -- so the groundwork is in place for our national politics to reflect this. So when someone like Obama comes along, people see that possibility. Clinton can't do that because she is associated with the past.

On the issue of Obama allegedly being charismatic without substance, this article on The Atlantic Monthly website is definitely worth reading. An excerpt:

"One anti-Obama meme that I notice has gotten a lot of support even among people sympathetic to his cause is the notion that he's somehow shallow or insufficiently well-versed in policy matters. Obviously, I can't crawl into either candidate's brain and take a look around, but this idea doesn't seem to me to be especially well-supported by the evidence. Instead, it seems to draw support from a kind of implicit Law of Conservation of Virtues -- the pretty girl can't be smart, the not-so-good-looking guy must be really nice -- that has people notice that Clinton is well-versed in policy but isn't a charismatic figure, and Obama is charismatic so it "must" be that he's not well-versed in policy. He's cool and she's the nerd."

I appreciate what Opinionated has to say on her blog about doing a bit of meditation to calm down (quite a good idea actually), but some stuff she writes is just weird, like the goofy claim that Barack Hussein Obama (whom she calls "Barak Hussain Obama") has been trying to hide the fact that his father was a Muslim. I might also note that Opinionated writes quite fondly of GOP governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, although there seems to be no reason for her feelings other than that Jindal is of Indian descent and his parents are immigrants. How Opinionated squares this with silly references to "Obamamania" is beyond me.

I hate liking public figures too much. Typically, I think there is no way we can actually see the person through all the coaching/focus group training/and manipulative speaking. I like to think I can see through the crap. With Obama, I either have bought the packaging of his image or he is be the real deal. I hope it is the latter.

Joel, Just to set the record straight I am "he" and not "she". Hussain is a muslim name and can be spelt either Hussein or Hussain. They both sound the same and in certain parts of the world spelt with "ai" and not "ei". No different the "color" or "colour".

I wrote about Jindal, because he presented himself very well in the interview and at 36 years of age a very young governor of a state that has only had white governors. He was asked if he would run with McCain as his VP and he said no, he prefered to serve the people of Louisana. I was trying to draw a parallel between him and Obama. And yes, I believe Jindal is on the same track to be a candidate for President in the future and we shall see more diversity in the next generation of presidents in this country, democrats or republicans. This is a good thing, about time and represents the true America.

Peace Out!

I agree with TJ and was also taken by the humility of Obama's speech last night. Obama is not setting unrealistic expectations for what he will accomplish, although it is possible that his supporters are.

I worry about the bubble bursting, but not in the same way Chris does. Obama is clear that he wants to bring all sides together to formulate solutions to our biggest problems, but I sense that most of his support comes from liberal true believers who see him ushering in a new era of liberalism. That's not likely to happen, but it is likely that he could usher in a new era of progressivism, which means that when he solves the health crisis it may be through a hybrid, public-private approach instead of single payer. When he solves the energy crisis, it may involve green incentives to reduce demand and also an effort to find new energy supplies. When he says he wants to reward good teachers, he may couple it with increased teacher accountability.

Personally, that's what I expect from him (not the specifics I speculate on above, but that kind of compromise approach). But I'm not sure that's what his supporters expect.

"(arguably our constitution is in a worse crisis but Senator Obama is not running on that or fixing it)" For my support, Obama need not convince that he will follow the constitution rather than trying to subvert it like Bush & Cheney live for. I presume Barack will remedy the constitutional threats festering from the Bush era because he is an expert in that arena. What he has yet to trumpet, which he should, is his knowledge base vis-a-vis the Constitution being a former professor of constitutional law. Another reason I'm an Obamaniac.

Obama-maniacs please check out this Chris Mathews Hardball segment written about on Huffington Post last night.

Peace Out!

Excellent post. I am becoming a Obama believer, although I have to admit that I really wanted Edwards. Do not let the Clinton's back in the White House!

Like Karol I am catching the fever. Many others outside of America are also catching the Obama-mania fever. Perhaps they also see hope in Obama and the chance for America to improve our relations with other countries.

America can not stand alone in the world and sustain itself. I believe that on DAY 1 Obama will be very effective in diplomacy. The wars will still present challenges and would challenge anyone serving as president. There will be many challenges and sacrifices on the domestic front as well even with Obama in office. It will though be that much better if we can begin to heal the wounds in our relations with other countries who did not appreciate Bush's "cowboy" approach to diplomacy.

"This is my first blog ever! Blame it on the mania"