I'm Every Person You Need To Be

John Derbyshire asks some tough questions on what has so far been Obama's Excellent Adventure:

What are we electing here, a faith healer? What is Obama's view of the executive power? How, exactly, does he propose to "bring us together"? Just by being half-black? What if I don't want to be "brought together" with radical socialists who want to jack up my taxes and shut down my freedoms of speech, property, and association? What will Obama do? Steve Sailer has been documenting the astonishing--for a guy with Obama's résumé--absence of any paper trail for Obama's thoughts, ideas, and opinions. There's just his autobiography, which is unreadable (I tried), and The Audacity of Hope which I guess (I didn't try--you can only ask so much of a guy) urges us all to be really audacious and hope a lot.

Be audacious to each other.

Meanwhile, Stpehen H. Webb asks if Obama is a cult at First Things:

Just talk to anyone who supports Obama. They will say that he does have policy positions, but they will also say that he transcends all the typical policy options. Most importantly, they will talk about how Obama makes them feel. They will say that Obama represents the future, that he can heal the country, that he will create a new unity in America. And they will look a bit glassy eyed as they tell you all of this. Don't argue with them. It is impossible to argue rationally with a member of a cult. Don't even compare Hilary to Obama, because, like all cult members, they hate their rivals. Just be as clear eyed as you can, and pray that Obama does not get elected--not because he claims to transcend politics, which is merely empty rhetoric, but because, like all liberals, when he says he is transcending left vs. right, he is really being more leftist than ever. He wants to replace arguments over real differences with feelings of good will, and that is the real danger.

The nature of politics is all about differences of opinions (we wouldn't need politics otherwise) and when someone promises to "get beyond our differences" what they really mean is that you should stop disagreeing with them.