Spring Break
Obama culture has taken over America
John Bailey
Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: Focus
Defying the expectations of some political bloggers, Barack Obama's initial approval ratings haven't broken any records, though they do place him on the historical high end.
America does seem to love Obama. According to a recent Gallup poll, the nation's newest commander in chief has a 69 percent job approval rating after his first few days in office; ahead of every post-World War II president except for John F. Kennedy. He's got majority approval among both independents and conservatives and his approval rating among liberals is close to 90 percent.
Obama rode into the Oval Office on this zeppelin of public goodwill, and it doesn't seem positioned to deflate any time soon. But whether his Teflon charm can withstand the four-year marathon in the public eye is yet to be seen, as approval ratings tend to dive sharply over the course of any president's stay in the White House.
But even if Obama's political PR behemoth takes a few hits between now and 2010, his impact on our culture is already indelible. What apolitical effects has Obama had on Americana already - and what might be coming in the future?
Hoop Dreams
Baseball, the apple pie of the sports world, may need to slide over as our nominal "national pastime" during the next four years. Obama's three-pointer with the U.S. forces in Kuwait was a welcome lighthearted moment during a slugfest of a campaign season, and last month Obama quipped that he was "putting together the best basketball-playing Cabinet in American history." Aside from the president himself, Obama's picks for national security adviser, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, attorney general and Treasury secretary all have some school or professional basketball in their pasts. "As American as basketball" isn't in our cultural lexicon yet, but isn't this the year for change?
"These things do not come off!"
Liberals have had a good time of blasting the political establishment during the Bush years, festooning their cars with bumper stickers and donning snarky "Good Bush, bad Bush" T-shirts. But while a small minority of progressives will still find plenty of faults with Obama's policy, the majority of the Democratic base will find their complaint cannon empty - at least for a little while. Obama has yet to make any grievous missteps in his short time at the presidency, and so America will have to adapt to a political culture that doesn't focus on hating the government. Fortunately, we'll probably all have to buy newer, more energy-efficient cars soon anyway, so the gross bumper sticker residue won't be a problem.
America does seem to love Obama. According to a recent Gallup poll, the nation's newest commander in chief has a 69 percent job approval rating after his first few days in office; ahead of every post-World War II president except for John F. Kennedy. He's got majority approval among both independents and conservatives and his approval rating among liberals is close to 90 percent.
Obama rode into the Oval Office on this zeppelin of public goodwill, and it doesn't seem positioned to deflate any time soon. But whether his Teflon charm can withstand the four-year marathon in the public eye is yet to be seen, as approval ratings tend to dive sharply over the course of any president's stay in the White House.
But even if Obama's political PR behemoth takes a few hits between now and 2010, his impact on our culture is already indelible. What apolitical effects has Obama had on Americana already - and what might be coming in the future?
Hoop Dreams
Baseball, the apple pie of the sports world, may need to slide over as our nominal "national pastime" during the next four years. Obama's three-pointer with the U.S. forces in Kuwait was a welcome lighthearted moment during a slugfest of a campaign season, and last month Obama quipped that he was "putting together the best basketball-playing Cabinet in American history." Aside from the president himself, Obama's picks for national security adviser, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, attorney general and Treasury secretary all have some school or professional basketball in their pasts. "As American as basketball" isn't in our cultural lexicon yet, but isn't this the year for change?
"These things do not come off!"
Liberals have had a good time of blasting the political establishment during the Bush years, festooning their cars with bumper stickers and donning snarky "Good Bush, bad Bush" T-shirts. But while a small minority of progressives will still find plenty of faults with Obama's policy, the majority of the Democratic base will find their complaint cannon empty - at least for a little while. Obama has yet to make any grievous missteps in his short time at the presidency, and so America will have to adapt to a political culture that doesn't focus on hating the government. Fortunately, we'll probably all have to buy newer, more energy-efficient cars soon anyway, so the gross bumper sticker residue won't be a problem.
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