The District Chronicles

Issue date: 9/7/08 Section: Cover

Media Credit: Freddie Allen

Raised on the island of Oahu, HI, and the son of a Caucasian mother and Kenyan father, Barack Obama never fit the bill of America's traditional presidential nominees.  Some detractor bloggers have mythologized him as the Anti Christ, King of the South predicted in the Bible.

But others have referred to the Senator and now Democratic Party Presidential nominee as the Messiah, "The One," and even a modern day sun god. Filmmaker Spike Lee has weighed in on the impact Obama is making on American culture.  He is quoted in obamamessiah.blogspot.com saying that after November 4, "you'll have to measure time by 'before Obama' and 'after Obama.'"  He added, "Everything's going to be affected by this seismic change in the universe."

Sen. John McCain's campaign has joined in Obama's mythologizing fever. In a recent Web advertisement, the presumptive Republican nominee's camp pokes fun at Obama's "Messiah complex."  Comparing Obama to both Jesus and Moses, the narrator of the commercial refers to him as "The One," and quotes him saying "a nation healed, a world repaired," among other comments.

But Bryant Stewart, assistant pastor of Mary's Missionary Bible Church in Washington, DC, does not believe Obama has mythical power.  Rev. Steward, acknowledges the unprecedented political success Obama has made so far, but he would not quite put him on the level of a higher being.

"He's just a person who has come along at the right time," Pastor Stewart concedes.  "Our country's been through a lot.  He really appeals to a lot of people.  His whole platform has been about change.  He's the epitome of change."

Some have compared the Senator from Chicago to President Abraham Lincoln who has been referred to as "The American Osiris" and "Savior of the American Union." He is a beacon of hope for many, said Pastor Stewart. People want things to get better in America and he's going to be the vessel to do that, he said.

Dinesh Sharma, a marketing science consultant with a doctorate in psychology from Harvard, has made scholarly analyses of presidential candidates trying to infuse American democracy with mythology and folklore, going back to the founding of the nation.  Whether it's the fable of George Washington and the cutting of the cherry tree, the stories about honest Abe Lincoln, or the making of Kennedy Camelot myth, the right mixture of mythological imagery is almost necessary for a campaign to excite the general public, writes Sherma.

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