Zelig

OK everyone, please just calm down. Everyone is so upset with President Obama. Healthcare, the economy - blah, blah, blah. When I refer to "everyone," I mostly mean liberal Democrats. Even Howard Dean is getting into the mix now; Dean is recommending that the current version of the healthcare bill be "killed," because of it's being a useless, water-downed version of its former self. Democrats are proclaiming, "where is our President - where is the Obama that we voted for?"

When I hear this, I can't help but question if people really believe that. Is that the "Candidate Obama" whom you really saw? Don't get me wrong - I am thankful that he is in office and pray that he stays in for another term - but I didn't see him as this far-left liberal. Look, the guy doesn't support gay marriage - how liberal can he be? Some part of me always believed - and still does - that Hillary Clinton was more "left" than Obama. Her persona and Bill Clinton scandal-connections just didn't always reflect that - or - allow people to see it.

Whom did Obama reflect? Well, I think that Obama reflected the image that people wanted to see. Liberal Democrats projected their hopes and dreams onto then candidate Obama. But that - at least in my vision - was not whom he really was. Having the gift and gracefulness to project what people want to see is a gift - particularly in elections. But, once that wrapping paper comes off and you see the real person - the disappointment is bound to follow - at least for those doing the projecting - or maybe depending on whom the person is surrounding him or herself with.

I keep thinking of the Woody Allen movie, Zelig. Set in the 1920s and 1930s, the film focused on Leonard Zelig, a man who had the ability to transform his appearance to that of the people who surrounded him. It was filmed in documentary style, using actual newsreel footage. In the movie, Leonard Zelig gains fame as being the "human chameleon." But, like chameleons, Zelig was only as attractive as whom he was near. I am including a snippet of the film below: