In describing my recent Obama articles to my mother I met with a troubling response. Actually it is the same response I get from the Obama supporters who comment here. It is not so much the words that bother me, but the assumption that I share them.

You see, when I was speaking about how race is an unspoken major element in Obama's campaign, my mother argued that race had little to do with, following that with the disturbing words "You have to admit he is charismatic."*

It stopped me cold. The same way I am surprised when people speak of L. Ron Hubbard or Reverend Moon, that silent assumption that someone is horribly wonderful and charismatic and that everyone else must see it too.**

You see, I just don't get it. To me Obama isn't charismatic, he isn't even all that great a speaker. It is just too noticeable that he is doing all he can to avoid taking a stand, that he has plans to hit certain buzz words, and strives mightily to do so, keeping up his "change per hour" rate. He just sounds like a politician who has found a line that works and wants to milk it for all its worth. His platitudes such as "change we can believe in" and his efforts to push lines such as "I want to help you change Washington" just sound too much like all the pre-packaged populist pablum we have heard from Democrats for years. Even his delivery is nothing new.

The only innovation Obama has offered is the realization that he can win without presenting even a single concrete position. And that does not fill me with adoration for the man.

All of which seems to be missed by the Obama supporters. To them, he is the most eloquent, wonderful, perceptive, witty speaker ever, possessed of keen insight and a brilliant mind. No one has ever walked the earth who is quite as charming and delightful as him, nor will there ever be his equal. Beliefs which make the supporters here, and those few I meet in my daily life, even those not completely overcome with Obamania, seem more than a little bit like cult members.

Which actually may explain why they are so offended with claims that race plays a role in their support. You see, it may have played a role, may have been a motivator, but now that they have sold their souls to Obama, they can't imagine that there is any reason NOT to support him. They don't ask why they support him, they wonder why anyone else wouldn't. Just read the comments I received from Obama supporters to see examples. They think that saying he "has run a  good campaign" or "has positions" resolves the question. They think they don't support him because of race, as everyone should support him just because he is wonderful. And even when they say he will cure racial problems, it isn't because he is black, but only because someone so great would of necessity cure all problems.

That is what disturbs me about Obama. I know I said before he is an inkblot upon which people project their hopes and wishes. But when I said it, I didn't realize that I was also describing a cult leader. Yet, that is what Obama seems to be becoming. His followers have gone beyond adoration into outright worship. They hang on his every word, even fainting in sheer delight at his proximity. They think he can cure all ills, and cannot imagine anyone questioning his right to rule. He has gone from politician to "beloved leader" in their eyes.

Now I am sure there are Obama supporters who don't fit the cult mindset. Probably a few of the youngsters out there are just chasing after the trendy movement of the moment, or are doing it to appease their girlfriends, or to meet new ones. A few of the fainting young ladies probably have more of a rock star-like crush, rather than a cult-like adoration. And some, even some of the older supporters who should know better, may be supporting him because he is cute or liberal or whatever. But there is a disturbing number of Obama supporters who seem to attribute to him almost superhuman charisma that those not so enamored just don't see.

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* The rest of our conversation was amusing for different reasons. She claimed that people rarely voted on policies and positions, saying people were voting for Hillary because she was a woman, or Obama because he was black. My reply, "You only think so because you're a Democrat", amused me, but was not that well received.

** To be fair to my mother, she does not seem to be one of the Obama cult members. In all honesty, I really don't know what she sees in Obama. She is a liberal, but is remarkably sensible for a liberal. She opposes mandatory smoking bans, campaigns against "bad foods", and Maryland's recent proposals to require medical approval of tanning. Except for a strange faith in the UN and a belief that we can just agree to never have wars (well, and some of the usual feminist gibberish to which her generation seems especially susceptible), she hardly seems liberal in conversation. How she is taken in by such a content-free charlatan is beyond me.