Lemmings?

I remember back in 2008, Republicans campaigning for office asked Bush to stay away. They did not want to be seen with him. And he understood the political realities and did not impose himself.

This past election cycle, anemic an indicator (of anything) as it was, Obama was asked to appear with both Democrat gubernatorial incumbents. He was said to be the man of ‘hope and change’, after all; the man of the hour; of destiny; the Messiah; the man with the big mo, whose multi-colored, socialist mop could confidently sweep away any and all messes.

It didn't work. I know Obama came several times to embrace Corzine publicly and cause massive traffic disruptions in this, my beloved, hugely blue state. If a presidential visit or two works anywhere, it should have worked here.

There is perhaps a parallel that can be drawn here (between ‘W’ and Obama). I’m just not quite sure of how to articulate it.

Cynics will try to put the onus on a fickle and confused electorate. They would argue that, given, the people went wholesale for anything ‘not Bush’ during the last election cycle, is it then so difficult to believe that those same lemming-like clods would not also veer severely to the Right on the mere suggestion of talk radio blather? Or is it, perhaps, the executive branch itself that has become toxic; a sacrificial stone for any president?

Linking the anti-Bush and the anti-Obama sentiment in this way, however, lacks nuance. Anti-Bush was manufactured fun spun from whole cloth by nihilists, stand-up comics, propagandists and spoilers. Anti-Obama sentiment, on the other hand, spawns from a genuine fear that America is headed for the proverbial cliff. It is infinitely more potent than the care-free jabs at Republican governance over the office water cooler. There will be a bloodbath next year.