The Audacity of Arrogance

And Barack said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. As a Republican, losing the White House is not my greatest concern – it is the tremendous arrogance of the leader that Americans appear ready to hand the reins of our government to. At a fundraiser last week, Senator Obama said, “contrary to rumors you may have heard, I was not born in a manger…I was actually born in Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save planet Earth.” He may have been joking, but Superman? I think not.

Arrogance is a common vice in presidential politics. As Frank James noted in The Swamp, “anyone who runs for president of the U.S. must, by definition, have an ego that vastly outstrips that of most other mortals.” However, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his self-estimation and the sum total of his life achievement? Obama is a three-year senator without a single important legislative achievement to his name. As editor of the Harvard Law Review, a law professor, and an Illinois legislator, his most memorable work is a biography of his favorite subject, himself.

In displays of demonstrative arrogance, Obama created his own version of the Presidential seal, accepted his nomination in front of pillars as if to position him as immortal amongst sheer commoners, and crafted a campaign slogan that oozes arrogance. “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” actually means, “I am the one we’ve been waiting for.” In his nomination acceptance speech, Obama declared it a great turning point in history – “generations from now we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment…the rise of the oceans began to slow.” Economist Irwin Stelzer noted in his London Daily column, “Moses made the waters recede, but he had help.” Obama apparently works alone.

With the election 19 days away and the economy in recession, Senator Obama is poised for what some predict will be a blowout victory over Senator John McCain. America needs a leader to guide it through one of the darkest periods in recent history. Our relations with other countries are suffering, our housing market has collapsed, companies cannot borrow new loans and struggle to pay off existing ones, and overall Americans are worried about the future. Obama has had an extraordinary campaign strategy – use high-flying, optimistic rhetoric to appeal to an electorate disillusioned with our current administration. But we need someone to DO president, not just BE president. We need a leader, but none are running.

Winston Churchill famously said, “the best argument against democracy is five minutes with the average voter.” Ask the average American voter about Obama’s stance on various issues and they will not score very well. Ask them who will bring change, Obama scores off the charts. Obama claims he will change the world. But what has he done to bring change in his political career so far? He has a lackluster Illinois State Senate record and a blank U.S. Senate record (voting “present” nearly 130 times). Obama claims to be able to work with fellow Republicans, but he has never done so before. Why should we believe he would do so now? Obama claims to understand everybody’s views and positions himself as a moderate, but he has been ranked the #1 most liberal Senator for the last three years.

Unfortunately, I, along with many Americans, am not thoroughly excited by either choice, as evidenced by the fact that a geriatric Senator with no personality who is disliked by his own party is only a few points behind the most popular Senator and biggest celebrity in American politics today. I worry that Americans will overlook Obama’s extreme hubris, extremely liberal ideas and lack of accomplishments and be stuck for the next four years with a man who will spend more time boosting his own ego than our struggling economy.