1. Obama moved around a lot all through his youth and early career. When he arrived at a new school – as the somewhat regal new kid, lacking history with other students – he was never teased in a friendly way, as many other students with shared histories would’ve been teased by their friends. If you don’t get teased in a friendly way, you have a harder time learning to laugh at yourself.

2. Mizpants is right on target: Obama withholds. It’s hard to tease someone whom you know nothing about. If you don’t get teased in a friendly way, you have a harder time learning to laugh at yourself.

3. The pervasive, stifling effect of political correctness. Obama, going back maybe to 1972 or so, likely got a free ride, and was teased or challenged less than other kids or adults, due to the stifling effect of political correctness. Obama now cannot take a punch b/c he has rarely been punched. PC has protected him more than the normal child or adult.

Anyway, Obama’s personality and personal traits have more to do with his humorlessness than does 1,2,3 above. Nevertheless, I suspect 1,2,3 may be small, yet definite factors.

When, since then, has the press corps been so in love with a president? Possibly not until today… with the possiblility that Obama may hold the office.

Imagine how funny Obama will be when those type questions are lobbed at him.

Imagine how funny GWBush might have been if the press corps had been in love with him.

Couold it be that the media is not only the message but the problem as well?

Here are the Democratic Party’s nominees for president since 1972:

* George McGovern
* Jimmy Carter
* Walter Mondale
* Michael Dukakis
* Bill Clinton
* Al Gore
* John Kerry

Who’s the big winner in that crowd? Apart from the 1976 fluke, in which Jimmy Carter was elected because Gerald Ford had pardoned Richard Nixon, the only winner is Bill Clinton.

Apart from being a presidential winner, what sets him apart from the others? To look at it from the other direction, what do all of them have in common, except for Bill Clinton?

Here’s what they all have in common. McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry: none of them have the slightest hint of a trace of a sense of humor.

Not attractive. And since Obama and his followers are without any real sense of humor, they fail to see the difference. Too busy working the crowd to notice.

Obama has a very solid core – himself. He believes in his divine ascension to the Great Savior – that we want things like *how* matters not, it only matters that *he* is there. I truly think that he 100% intends to deliver on the wild promises he is making due to him just being – well – him.

And to a large extent – why shouldn’t he? In his life he hasn’t ever really failed at anything largely because he is himself. It wasn’t any special insight, any special knowledge, any special intelligence, well, anything special at all that got him where he is and where is he? Having a good chance of being the most powerful single person in the world all before he hits 50. Everyone has told him he can not for similar reasons (nothing but an empty suit) but at every juncture he makes it on. There is no reason for him to believe otherwise – the only evidence we have to go on is that he will make it to the presidency and that his wild promises will come true.

In a real sense he is the “bubble man” – like the tech, housing, and current oil bubble at some point you will be asked to pay and the bubble will burst. While in that mode things look great for the investors and many are dismayed watching it, but we have been wrong at every other turn. And, like the bubbles above, those that *really* want to believe will and will do so until it bursts – again there is ample past evidence that the world will go into that utopia (or in the case of gas and anti-utopia). It isn’t even really hard to convince yourself of it, all it takes is ignoring a few little things (that those things are vitally important is irrelevant due to the whole host of “other”).

“I wonder how he would react if he weren’t allowed to run away from things like the housing projects and botanical gardens”

The bubble will burst and we will know he has nothing. I dearly hope it happens before the election. As a senator I don’t really care if/when his bubble bursts (and given enough time there he may end up being OK even if I vehemently disagree with his politics) but I shudder to think of us have a good four years of knowing our president is a bubble boy – I can’t really imagine what it would be like knowing that the President of the US knows less than the average person.

As I said during the primary Obama is the easier candidate for McCain (or the other republicans that were running) to beat – all they have to do is get him outside of his comfort zone. On the other hand were they to loose he is, by far, the worst of the Democratic candidates. I also think that McCain has the best chance to win if he plays to win, however of the bunch that were running I think McCain is the least likely to play to win (you will not win by starting all you “attacks” about how good your opponent is and how good a job he would do – McCain is looking a whole lot like Dukakis in intentionally keeping the most damaging stuff off the table because of some strange sense of fairness – one shouldn’t lie but if your opponent runs some adds like Obama has attack for heaven’s sake).

expat — Interesting thought. Could be. I’m not sure he has a core either. Maybe has just been dancing as fast as he can all this time.

It concerns me too that he has not dealt with defeat or suffering or even worked as a busboy. There’s a lot Obama doesn’t know about life, yet he presumes to lead this country and lecture us citizens.

I watched the youtube clip and it sounded to me like Obama was overtired while trying to calculate 50 states – Alaska – Hawaii – the one continental state he hadn’t visited = 47 which collided with the original 50 and so he said 57.

He was saying “Uh” a lot and trying to get it right while juggling all the things in his head that he was juggling. I don’t think it’s significant of anything other than his humanness. And no, he’s not the smartest, most articulate guy when he’s thinking on his feet.