SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The rise of democratic frontrunner Barack Obama signifies an alarming victory of style over substance. Not unlike the dot-com hype, his campaign promises more than he can deliver. The one thing his voters can count on is that they will ultimately be disappointed.
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama reminds many people of former President John F. Kennedy or civil rights leader Martin Luther King. But when I hear him speak, I have to think of the crazy days of the New Economy.
It was a magical time, even for the most levelheaded of business executives. For several years, wild promises seemed to be the most valuable currency in circulation. Profits? No big deal! Experience? Unnecessary! Realism? More of an obstacle than anything else. While some entrepreneurs undoubtedly had realistic business models and administrative talent, most of them were simply peddling ideas.
World economic output grew by 80 percent in real terms between 1980 and 2000. But the value of shares rose by about 1,000 percent within the same period. The market hit its zenith on March 10, 2000, and then the bubble burst. Suddenly the billion-dollar companies listed on the NASDAQ collapsed like so many cold soufflés. These days, Bernie Ebbers, the former CEO of Worldcom and one of the stars of the new economy, no longer appears on Larry King Live. Instead, he is currently serving a prison term in Louisiana for fraud and conspiracy.
The future is a hotly traded commodity in the 2008 US presidential campaign. Voters are hungry for change and for radical departure from a present they now perceive as mediocre, especially after seven meager years under the current president, George W. Bush. A man like Barack Obama is adept at taking advantage of this yearning. He utters beautiful sentences that massage the soul, sentences like: "We are the ones we have been waiting for" and "Our destiny will not be written for us, but by us."
At his campaign appearances, Obama and his adoring supporters toss his campaign slogan, "Yes, we can," back and forth until the room is in a frenzy. His events are reminiscent of Sunday morning exchanges between a fiery pastor and his enthusiastic congregation, except that Obama's crowds are even more fervent.
But anyone able to look past the rhetoric of the 46-year-old candidate will recognize a growing sense of doubt -- doubt that Obama easily manages to quell in his next speech, or his next one after that. The senator's successes in the primaries also have a narcotizing effect. Obama defines himself as a new type of politician, as someone who refuses to be judged by the old standards. Change You Can’t Believe In >>> By Gabor Steingart in Washington
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