Go Down Moses

It's clear, folks, that Barack Obama had (and, yes, still has, I'm sure) legions of ravenous supporters out there, all of whom no doubt helped him to victory this fall. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I've never seen anything quite like it, EVER! - this support of his. And I've been out there for a while, too. And while, yes, I hate to reduce any phenomena like this to an Ideal-Type analysis, unfortunately, there does seem to be a little something to it that just might warrant such a thing......................................................Take, for instance, the motivation of these folks. I don't know, but it seems to me that there are in fact two major groups among these hard-core Obamaites. Group number one sees (saw) Mr. Obama as a sort of savior of the liberal/progressive movement, a personification of liberalism itself. And, yes, they also see in Mr. Obama THE LEADER (of this movement), the very one that they've always wanted and, yes, through HIM, it ALL will come; justice, liberty, equality, etc. It's just a matter of time...........................................................As for the other group of staunch Obama supporters, they represent a somewhat different breed. While, yes, they obviously see Obama as a Democrat and, hence, probably liberal, they're seemingly driven far less by ideology. It doesn't matter whether Obama is a liberal, a moderate, or even a conservative Democrat. He's Obama....and that, my friends, is sufficient for them. They're not exactly sure how he's going to fix everything. They just have an undying faith that he somehow will. It's just as idealistic a mindset as the other group's, but it's far more directed toward the individual himself, not toward any specific creed he may or may not represent..........................................................Now, like I said, these are clearly ideal-types and, yes, we may in fact be working more toward a continuum here. All I'm saying is that there does seem to be that dichotomy out there and that I personally have witnessed it. Of course, it will be even more interesting to see how these two types end up reacting should Obama continue to deviate from form (i.e., moving to the middle). My hunch is that the first group will have a little more difficulty remaining loyal. I mean, just read a couple of the blogs already posted - a little bit of shit going down as we speak.