Politicians aren’t known for their honesty, and it’s no surprise that many of them try to manipulate not only the media but audiences who come to see them speak.
But presidential candidate Barack Obama may have achieved a new low. Obama, whose campaign stops regularly draw thousands of enthusiastic supporters, has been generating a fan base that sometimes sounds creepily like a cult. Followers have been reported to often approach strangers at campaign events with the query, “When did you come to Obama?”
As his campaign stops have taken on more of the air of a camp revival, Obama has apparently developed the “ability” to make young girls faint, first reported by James Vicevich, a Connecticut radio talk show host.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported the following incidents of fainting at Obama rallies:
- Montecito, Calif., Sept. 8, 2007. “A woman standing in front of the stage appeared to faint as Obama spoke about Iraq,” the Associated Press reported. “The candidate paused and asked the crowd to make way for firefighters. One supporter shouted, ‘You’re a good man,’ leaving Obama momentarily at a loss for words. ‘Well, I’m not the only one stopping to help her,’ he said, sounding almost embarrassed.”
- Madison, Wis., Oct. 22, 2007. “This excitement mirrored the aura in the room that grew throughout his speech,” reported WISN-TV. “Before the senator arrived, students were tossing around an inflatable cow above the crowd. Three people fainted in the midst of all the enthusiasm.”
- Hanover, N.H., Jan. 8, 2008. “Barack Obama’s first and only rally on election day came to a sudden and lengthy stop when a young woman in the Dartmouth College gym fainted, and was eventually rolled off on a gurney by emergency medical technicians,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “At first Obama half-narrated the episode, saying soothing things like, ‘She’s OK,’ ‘She’s talking.’ But the longer she lay on the floor, the quieter Obama got, standing on the podium, arms folded, looking worried as the medical crew worked.” Minneapolis’s WCCO-TV has video showing Obama handing a bottle of water to the Dartmouth damsel in distress.
- Hartford, Conn., Feb. 4, 2008. “And when a woman appeared to faint in the standing-only VIP section in front of the podium, Obama paused his speech for over a minute as he directed the crowd to make way for an EMT team and tossed a bottle of water from the stage,” reported the Yale Daily News.
- Seattle, Feb. 8, 2008. “Climate change, the Iraq war and Obama tossing a bottle of water to a woman about to faint all received big cheers,” MSNBC.com reported. “As Obama told the crowd to part so that the woman in question could leave and called for help, a young girl in the crowd shouted out, ‘What a man!’ The audience roared with laughter (although the press that has seen this happen before rolled its eyes).”
Bay Area radio host Brian Sussman on Friday played clips of five Obama appearances featuring fainting spells by a woman near the front of the audience. Obama’s reactions and narration in each case were similar enough that it would be difficult to avoid the conclusion that the events are staged.
If the events are staged, then it speaks volumes about Obama’s true character. If they are not staged, then that raises some other disturbing questions. A politician who truly had that much sway over his followers would be formidable indeed. History features many such politicians, few if any of whom brought their countries to good ends.
Either way, the prospect of an Obama presidency merits serious consideration.
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