Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/11/05/obama-gets-rock-star-reactions.html
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I don’t like all that he did, but he is a statesman. I miss him.
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That whole two term thing… Is that two consecutive terms or two terms period?
Just kidding, I’ve read the 22nd amendment.
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We don’t need more Obama - we need more like Obama.
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He gets those reactions because he has rock-star charisma. Look at how he swaggers in, how he instantly connects with people. I’ve experienced that with a few celebrities over the years, once over the phone. It’s a rare, borderline magical talent.
The problem with the Dems since Reagan is that finding someone like that is the only path they see to winning the Presidency. They just hope and pray they’ll find another Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, or hope and pray that cold fish like Mondale or Dukakis or Gore or Kerry or Hillary Clinton – as competent and accomplished as they are – will somehow magically gain the talent during the campaign. There are ways to get non-rock-stars elected, but it takes time and work the Dem establishment aren’t willing to put in.
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To be honest, while I agree with your point about what magic Obama has…it isn’t magical just to be a reasonably well adjusted and empathetic human being. That is not asking too much of anyone let alone someone who represents an entire nation. Even if a president isn’t the most charismatic person or doesn’t have that “it” factor…people would still react that way over all.
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I agree. The challenge seems to be to find someone who wants that job who, rock star charisma or not, isn’t also monstrous to one degree or another. Carter is the only one I can think of in recent history, and his decency didn’t come through holding the office unscathed, either.
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What do you think the Fox News type calculus is for the tip amount? If he leaves too little he’ll be accused of being cheap, if he leaves too much he could be accused of being a smug elite.
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I wonder if Trump has ever left anyone a $40 tip?
Ford, Bush Sr and Clinton fit that bill. They were not monsters…but not perfect by any stretch. The only terrible ones in recent history were Reagan (financially terrible for the nation), Bush Jr (got us into 2 god damn wars), and now Nostradumbass (because he’s fucking Nostradumbass!!).
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Wait, wait – I need closure!
Were they, or were they not, hard-shelled corn tacos?
Because that’s the kind I like.
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How I miss That Guy. Watching him respond with such good humor and grace to a heckler in the past week "Really? Come on man, don’t curse in from of the kids. Not nice… " something like that. Smiling and laughing, so positive and decent. So human.
So NOT like ‘президент’ †Я☭м₽
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Maybe on a nightstand? On second thought, nope.
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So weird how I can look at this guy wade into a crowd, and it cures all my ills.
Then, I’ll see the other guy wade into a different crowd, one filled with red hats, and I get sick all over again.
Gillum, Stacie Abrams, Beto… The more I see of these people, the more I’m proud of what the Democratic party is offering. They’re nice people. I don’t get how the GOP can’t even find nice people: DiSantis, Rick Scott, Cruz, Kemp are just terrible people, nevermind their terrible policies. [Of course, then we start going down the rabbit hole of how can “nice” people, like Paul Ryan, actually be nice when they’re offering up terrible, ruinous policy.]
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“like Obama” Gillum, here in FL, is getting close. Has a ton of charisma, knows how to relate to a crowd. Hoping for him to win Governor. Beto in TX is the same except a little more tightly wound from what I’ve seen of him.
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Trump’s tips tend to be along the lines of “when you’re famous they let you do it.”
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I like Gillum, but I couldn’t vote for him.
I still can’t believe America had a chance to vote for a taco truck on every corner and we totally blew it.
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I suspect he probably has charged $40 for a tip. One about what club to use on the 8th hole of some golf course.
And probably a lousy tip like use a driver in a sand trap…
Perpetual lousy tipper.
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it kills me that whenever i see trump or obama interacting with people out in public, i get tears in my eyes, but for entirely opposite reasons.
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