You know, I think I'm pretty sure I've heard more people complain and wring their hands about 'Obamamania' than I've actually seen people expressing what I would consider Obamamania. Most people who support him that I've talked to, or even heard about in the media, have pretty realistic expectations. Sure, some people think he'll be a truly great president. Some people on the right thought W would be a 'great' president - hell, some people on the right think he *was* a great president, and we just haven't noticed yet. Obama is obviously more popular, and more people expect good things from him. But to me, that doesn't equal this meme about everyone having unrealistic, messianic expectations of the big O (hey, the Big O - add that to the 'nicknames for Obama' thread). He's almost as popular as Kennedy was at this point in his administration. Which is pretty damn good, considering the power of the right-wing hate machine. But it isn't messianic. It's just a combination of relief to be rid of W, and Hope that Obama will turn out to be a good president. So far, I'm pretty happy with how he's turning out. I'd like to see the results of some of these machinations over the stimulus package, and then see how I feel about his political skill.
Personally, I think he'll at least be a good president, and possibly a great one. I don't agree with all the positions he's taken, but I do agree with most of them. I'm Hopeful. Optimistic. But I think I'm still realistic. I don't expect him to fix all of our problems. And we have some major problems. But I think he's going in the right direction.
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