“Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Dorothy says in “The Wizard of Oz.” Barack Obama might have had the same sensation this weekend when, in his first official campaign event at the Schottenstein Center at Ohio State, Obama spoke to a crowd of 14,000 in a center that fits 20,000. “There were,” according to the Toledo Blade, “a lot of empty seats.” This happened despite the fact that Obama volunteers worked feverishly to gin up a crowd.
“Axelrod, I have a feeling we’re not in 2008 anymore,” Obama might have thought.
To add insult to injury, the New York Times (as Jonathan points out here) reported on the opening event for Obama this way: “At times, the rallies had the feeling of a concert by an aging rock star: a few supporters were wearing faded ‘Hope’ and Obama 2008 T-shirts, and cheers went up when the president told people to tell their friends that this campaign was ‘still about hope’ and ‘still about change.’”
For a president whose only selling point these days is “cool” — and who is used to campaigning surrounded by faux Greek columns and adoring fans and cult-like music videos– this must come as quite a shock to the system. Perhaps the president, desperate to recapture a moment that is forever gone, can relate to the lyrics of a genuine aging rock star, Bruce Springsteen:
Now I think I’m going down to the well tonight
and I’m going to drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it
but I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days.
Barack Obama — with no record he can defend and no governing vision he can describe — may soon be left with nothing but boring stories of glory days.
I certainly hope you are correct!
That too will be hard, since, well, there were no glory days in this train wreck.
Isn't it strange that all of Obamas glory days were about getting the job, and none in doing the job.
The glory days pretty much ended on January 21, 2009. Been steep downhill ever since.
more like an aging teen idol. The shelf life is much shorter
Meanwhile, down here on earth, America is in a post-Obamanomics Gory Daze. n nHurry November 2012 and spare us the distraction of the War on Wimmenz, Sad Sex Marriage, Booosh-all and of course, trotting out the inevitable Homeless.
Hmmmmmmmmm, seems just 2 years ago, while campaigning for former Governor Strickland, that same Shottenstein Center had 35K+ people. And this weeks dismal showing was after folks went door to door for a week to drum up participants. BTW, Strickland LOST…………….
This sure sounds as if Wehner is suffering from crowd envy. 14,000 people turn up for an Obama rally in OH and another 8,000 in VA on the same day and this is bad? These numbers completely dwarf any EVER seen at a rally for Romney.
Ha!! n nOhio State's on-campus population is 65,000 John. I'd bet that if Lindsay Lohan showed up to give a lecture on how best to do shots at OSU frat parties she'd draw the same. This is the PRESIDENT of the U.S., he should be able to fill a that arena solely for the experience of seeing a president speak! As a conservative myself I would have shown up to hear Clinton or Carter speak just to be able I actually saw a president in person. n n65,000 to take from and the building's upper level was EMPTY! Keep drinking the kool-aid John, his day is OVER . . .
Republicans have jobs to go to, duh.
Obama minions go to rallies. Romney voters will go to the polls.
Yes but those who supported Obama are not those who usually vote in a presidential election. The only reason Barry won last time is that he was able to generate crowds of young people to get involved, who ordinarily wouldn't have. Most of the people who will vote for Romney aren't the types to swoon in aisle as he or anybody on the planet walks by, but what they are are people who usually vote. This is a big deal b/c it shows that Obama has lost that rock star status, and come election day the people that put him in office in 2008 are going to be sitting in their dorm rooms or their parent's basement playing PS3.
Obama's minions were busy occupying …. can't be two places at once. So many cars, so little crap.
Rather than Springsteen, I think maybe Obama's coming campaign would be best demonstrated by the old song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." n"…The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down nOf the big lake they call Gitche Gumee nSuperior, they said, never gives up her dead nWhen the gales of November come early …" n n n n
Blasphemy to associate that classic with this abomination.
Patriots can only hope for change in November!
Very well said and by Springsteen no less; a noted Obama supporter. Its always difficult to wake up from a dream. Its always hard to admit you've been taken. I can only hope that we awaken from this national nightmare come November. That can only happen if enough people can own up to being taken.
Good god! I hope he doesn't take to stage wearing spandex.
Hate to break it to you, but I was at the Siegel center in Richmond to see Obama on the 5th. The crowd packed the stadium and the street and were incredibly lively and excited. The President's speech was excellent, and the energy from the crowd was palpable. President Obama's supporters are out and in huge numbers! Also, speaking of not filling venues, remember when Romney chose ford field for a rally and about 100 people showed up?
President Obama is a star and his popularity is rock solid no matter how hard media against him try to erode.
You mean Obama, the left's favorite candidate, the one about whom their media covers up the truth?
Yep – that's the guy he's dreaming about.
Peter what a bunch of nonsense. I have seen both Pres. Obama and Gov. Romney with the last two months. And I can tell you there’s no comparison.
The enthusiasm for the president in front of a group of over a 1000 was spectacular.
Romney’s get together was a few hundred people thta looked they were at the annual meeting of the local country club.with about that level of enthusiasm.
Romney has yet to get more than a few hundred people at anything that he’s done worse president kicks off his first weekend with 14,001 venue and 8000 and another?
Keep trying to create a mean that Obama supporters have lost enthusiasm in this election cycle. It is utter nonsense especially when presented with the return to the 18th-century being offered by Republicans.
Keep trying though it’s funny to read these articles.
PLEASE! n nHis record: We aren't completely bankrupt! nHis vision: If you aren't yet broke, he will take your money and give it to someone who is broke! n nYAY for his RECORD and YAY for his VISION!
Oblowme can tell his stories of kneeling at figurative glory holes… each time he bowed before his arab masters.
At least The Boss' boring stories were about throwin that old speedball by you… n nObama's glory days were the destruction of the economy, jobs and the future of America… n nIt's amazing that those most hurt by Obama's policies – minorites (Black unemployment highest EVER, Black youth unemployment highest EVER; total sustained unemployment highest EVER) and the youth (who now can't find a job thanks to their votes for him) still support the guy who has trashed their futures. Who said education was bad in America?
I can only give 1 thumbs up, but your comment deserves many more!
Didn't Springsteen also sing "Born in the USA'? n n
Why not just follow the link back from RCP to OWS. And if you think the right wing has jibberish, check out liberal reaction on Twitterville to the vote in North Carolina yesterday. Then go lick your wounds.
Yeah, it's hard after a day of reading the complete ahistorical, intentionally ignorant nonsense that the left finds worthy of print or screen space to actualy find intelligent fact-based, historically-aware commentary that is found on RCP, isn't it? n nBest to go back to the TV and not worry your cute little brain cells over it. Assuming you have any to spare once they finish with breathing and making your heart pump.
Ahh the Glory Days: n nStimulus to buy votes but no JOBS, nObamacare "you can keep your healthcare" n nThese days? n nIf I had a son, he'd look like Inmate 11593-051.