"Smart, normal, curious, not radical, and post-Boomer." (But no pets.)

In 2007 Marc Andreassen (creator of the first browser, Mosaic, which birthed Netscape, and most recently of the create-your-own-social-network service Ning) and his wife spent an hour and a half with Barack Obama.  This was his impression.

(Andreassen and his wife donated the personal maximum to Obama's campaign, but also to Mitt Romney's.  Make of that what you will.)

On the other hand . . . NO PETS.  To some of us, that's cause for concern.

John McCain:  an English Springer spaniel named Sam, Coco the mutt, turtles named Cuff and Link, a black and white cat named Oreo, a ferret, three parakeets and 13 saltwater fish.  (As SIssy says:  Look to the animals!)

Barack Obama: no pets.

Could be they don't have time to take care of them, and their kids are a little young for the responsibility.  Michelle lets slip in this campaign video that the girls want a dog real bad.

The pets are ready to give him a pass, it seems, like so many others.

And, oh God, you have to see this -- I don't care where you stand politically: 



YES WE CAN HAS.

Comments

[Khaki Elephant]

You have opened my eyes to a new world of political discourse. No pets?! How can he possibly release the tensions of the day without a furry ear to listen? Can we trust him to answer that call at 3:00 in the morning when there is no risk of stumbling over a doggie chew toy on his way to the receiver? Then again, McCain has critters named "Cuff" and "Link." This one may be a political draw.

[huxley]

Great. Andreesen, one of the pre-eminent dotcommers, looks in the Obama mirror and sees what he wants to see: a young, bright post-boomer, confident in the new paradigm and that his time has come. In other words Andreesen sees himself as he was in the halcyon dotcom days when people were predicting the Dow at 40,000 and other stupid things.

Yes, Andreesen drank his own kool-aid about the new post-Microsoft paradigm. Then Microsoft set about methodically "cutting off the air supply" to Andreesen's company, Netscape, and now Netscape is no more and Andreesen is doing something called "Ning."

This is a silly, self-indulgent puff piece. "I'm a real smart guy and I can recognize another real smart guy."

As to the proof of Obama's executive ability by running a campaign--while the press is printing 46.7% positive stories to Hillary's 26.9%--I note that McGovern ran a cracking smart campaign in the 1972 primaries. Nontheless, Nixon buried McGovern in the general election.

[amba]

Huxley, you've never told us how old you are. Just curious.

[James Stanhope]

Huxley said: "... McGovern ran a cracking smart campaign in the 1972 primaries."

I first voted in 1972 (for Nixon), and I don't recall McGovern's primary campaign very clearly, but I don't think the media (as least as I recall) was particularly supportive of him, or at least not to the point of a "cult of McGovern," which Obama seems to enjoy now. McGovern did stumble badly in his process of selecting a vice-presidential candidate, and from then on, as I recall, media coverage of McGovern turned consistently hostile.

Obama, on the other hand, does radiate a great deal more charisma and shows more self-awareness than I recall that McGovern did, and people shouldn't be faulted too much for responding well to that, as long as they stay aware that Obama still refuses to answer questions about his platform, especially his platform on Iraq. Since Obama's vagueness on policy issues is now being noted a little more often (I think), the current "cult of Obama" doesn't seem too worrisome, especially since, if Obama is nominated, both he and his platform will be scrutinized under a microscope. Note: I haven't read Andreassen's article yet.

[amba]

Andreassen didn't say that much, just that Obama was smart, actually listened (unlike most politicians), seemed like a normal person, didn't strike him as a radical, and wasn't a baby boomer (this last is not in dispute, unless technically). But that is enough to rouse Huxley's scorn and ire. Andreassen is a vain, dot-com loser who was squeezed out by Bill Gates and has remade Obama in his own image, ergo is blandished and blinded to what is really there.

[amba]

Some of which is true, of course, of anyone who's enthusiastic about ANY politician. Obama's a pol from Chicago. His ties to Rezko are par for the course (McCain will have his own Rezko[s]). He has to have his ruthless, scheming, deal-making side to have risen to the top there. If anything, that should reassure the cynics: he is not a stainless lamb.

[wj]

If memory serves, McGovern was not running on a new approach to politics/government. Nor was he running as an inspirational leader. He was running on one (and effectively only one) issue: stopping the War in Vietnam.

It was an issue which awakened passions at least as toxic as those of the past couple of general election campaigns. But, as a little research at the time would have shown, it wasn't enough to sway a majority of the voting population -- in virtually every state.

[Randy (Internet Ronin)]

Funny someone mentions McGovern - had breakfast with my brother this morning and he was saying that it looks like Obama was on track to end up being another George McGovern. FWIW, I think Obama's performance at that little press conference yesterday was reminiscent of McGovern's problems in '72. Once the hard questions start getting asked, there may be no "there" there, as there wasn't in 1972. And make no mistake, if and when Obama sews up the nomination, the press will get more aggressive.

[huxley]

Oddly enough, it seems to have taken Saturday Night Live sending up the media for its fawning adoration of Obama to remind them that they have a job to do.

Thinking about it a bit more -- Obama is the dotcom of politics. Yes, let's find some smart young man with no experience, babbling about the new paradigm, and put him in charge! What could go wrong?

Then we can get Andreessen to interview Obama with all the depth of a guy setting up his sister with a blind date.

In investing, the four most dangerous words are "It's different this time."

[Maxwell James]

Obama is the dotcom of politics

Investing is inherently dangerous, as it should be.

Let it not be lost that we are writing this on a dot-com, in a way that would have been unthinkable even twenty years ago. The bust was, after all, preceded by a boom.

[Sissy Willis]

A man or woman without a spiritual bond to other species -- like Bill and Hill with their tragic Buddy and Socks props -- is no man or woman at all.

[PollWatcher]

Andreesen's underlining the salience of Obama being a Post-Boomer is right on target, but it's relevant for us to understand which Post-Boomer generation.

There is a growing consensus in the media, and among experts, that Obama is not a Boomer, nor an Xer, but instead is a member of Generation Jones (born 1954-1965, the heretofore lost generation between the Boomers and Xers).

Just in the last month or so, several top media outlets, including The New York Times, Newsweek Magazine, and NBC, have all made the argument that Obama is specifically part of Generation Jones. I also heard a panel of generations experts recently on a national radio show discussing this specific issue, and four of the five experts conlcuded that Obama is, in fact, a GenerationJoneser…that his bio and political worldview closely match the GenJones archetype.