Campaigns were months of endless days, take-out food, no sleep and no time to do your laundry. You were not like other people with a job. It was a cause! It demanded your full attention. Nothing was more important, not even your family.

I have worked on two Presidential campaigns when I was younger and a Democrat. There were many other campaign jobs through the years, including Senate races, but there is something special about the race for the White House. From the outside it looks chaotic. But the movie made a few things clear.

First, working on a Presidential campaign is like being in love. Second, it is the closest thing to being in organized crime without the bullets. Third, Clooney is this Democratic generation’s version of Warren Beatty.

Walk into a campaign office and look at the people. They are in love with the candidate. It usually doesn’t involve sex but sometimes it does. But it is adoration! He can do no wrong. He is perfect! He can save the world! You have to believe that in order to endure the stress. The more campaigns you work for, the more jaded you become. But there are still moments, even for the professionals, when you still believe in the magic.

You always remember your first time, right? It was 1980 and I was living in New York and working as a consultant to an elected official, Andrew Stein, the Manhattan Borough President. Andrew called me and told me he was going to be the first Democrat to come out against the re-election of Jimmy Carter. Carter had voted against Israel in the UN and
this was New York. Stein was supporting Ted Kennedy. He wanted me to write the foreign policy section of his statement, and I had to do it in an hour. It was for the New York Post. This was before everyone wrote on computers. I wrote it and read it to his assistant over the phone, who typed it. It was in the Post the next morning.

From then on we were in full campaign mode. It was “The Restoration,” the last Kennedy brother who rightfully deserved the Presidency! They wanted me to go to Philadelphia to help the Kennedy campaign with fundraising and events for the Pennsylvania primary. They got me an apartment to stay in but there was no pay. It was for love! It was a Kennedy, how could I say no? This was history! I got to meet the Senator several times. I went campaigning with Bobby Kennedy Jr. I met Jackie at a fundraiser. We won Pennsylvania! We won New York!

I have to admit I did get caught up in the drama of it all. Although the reasons I wanted Carter out was the Iran Hostage Crisis, the wrecked economy and Israel.

The campaign wanted me to go to California for the Primary, but they couldn’t afford a ticket so they asked me to pay for it. I felt bad but I couldn’t do it. I was no longer in love. But there were plenty of others who were organizing caravans of cars to drive to California to work on the last primary. I went to the Convention at Madison Square Garden and heard Kennedy make that great speech.

I knew he was going to lose. I was also there when Carter made his acceptance speech. There were people making jokes and laughing during the speech including my friend and I.

I voted for Ronald Reagan.

When I look back on the experience there are good and bad memories. It is good to work for a cause you believe in, but I don’t think a lot of the people who work on campaigns are realistic. The smartest thing I did was not put the cost of the plane ticket to California on my credit card when I knew Kennedy was going to lose the nomination.

The Jerry Brown campaign was in 1991-92. Brown was smart, articulate and trained by the Jesuits. Having an argument with him was like being with your sharpest professor. He asked tough questions. We beat Clinton in seven states. But we know who became President. That was a campaign of true believers. I was used to tough east coast campaigns. The Brown campaign had a motivational speaker when we opened our headquarters, who asked us to find our purpose or something. I was a little confused. But I stayed with Brown until the Convention. I had to, because Oliver Stone was a Brown delegate for Jerry and my job was to handle his press at the Convention in New York. I had a great time, but that was the last Presidential campaign I worked on. It took up my whole life.

My priorities were off. During the Brown campaign, I was in Connecticut visiting my family and scheduled to travel with the candidate in New York which was only an hour away. I was on the phone with the scheduler in California. I had the phone in one hand and my baby nephew Dovid in the other. The baby and the phone began to fall from my hands.
For one second I actually debated grabbing the phone first. But of course I held onto Dovid and let the phone crash to the floor. However Dovid is convinced I let him go because I only care about work. The fact that I could even hesitate, shocked me. How did I get to the point where I could think the election was more important than a baby? Dovid
still doesn’t believe me.

Spoilers Ahead ***

Why do I think politics is close to organized crime? At the end of ‘The Ides of March’ the seasoned campaign manager Paul, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, meets Steve (Ryan Gosling). Steve is the younger media guy who out maneuvered Paul, but he wants to have a beer with Steve. Paul wants to show him has no hard feelings – he actually admires the way Steve pulled off a coup in a Presidential campaign and won.

It brought back a scene from ‘The Godfather’ in which Hyman Roth, the old gangster, reminds the young Michael Corleone, “this is the business we have chosen.” Roth knows that Michael ordered the hit on his protégé, Moe Green. But he says “I didn’t ask who gave the order, because it had nothing to do with business.”

Who could forget that scene with the bullet through the eye! Throughout those movies, deals were made, and people were  betrayed, but the business of gambling, prostitution and drugs went on.

In politics, deals are made, people are betrayed but the business of the campaign goes on. There are always fights. Each operative is trying to get the candidate’s ear and outmaneuver the other operative. People hated each other at times. Of course, the volunteers never saw this. It was always a united front to them. It was one big, happy family to get our guy elected so we could change the world! It is like high school. But the one thing a campaign professional knows is that there is always another campaign. People hire their friends on campaigns like on movie sets.

Why do I think Clooney is the Democrats new Warren Beatty? For many years, Beatty was the Democrat’s biggest movie star. He took time out from his movie career to work for George McGovern in 1972. He is smart, articulate and everyone was hoping he would run for office one day. Does this sound familiar?

Clooney looks the part of a Presidential candidate. When he was making his campaign speeches in the film it was straight out of the Obama playbook. He started talking about getting off of oil and the new technologies that would create jobs in the future! He didn’t say “green jobs” but we know he meant it. I was going to laugh and shout out, “ you mean like Solyndra” but I remembered I was on the Westside of L.A. and in danger of bodily harm.

I never worked with Clooney but I did work with Beatty. He campaigned for Mark Green in New York in the 1986 Senate race against Al D’Amato. Of course we were crushed like 60-40 and Beatty didn’t show up election night. But I don’t blame him. He worked hard, signed autographs, posed for pictures and raised money for Green. He knew
the issues. So the Clooney thing is not news to me. He looks so Presidential!

I thought ‘The Ides of March’ was entertaining and did approximate the tensions of a campaign. It brought back a flood of memories for me. But I could see the double cross coming a mile away. And I figured out how Gosling’s character could win way before he did. They say these movies about politics are always about an innocent losing his soul because he wants to win. I knew he would do it. If his guy wins, he goes to the West Wing. To him, winning is everything! I’d rather watch it on screen. When it is over and the lights come up I get to go home.

But the trailers for “Pan Am,” which airs at 10 p.m. Sunday nights, brought me back to my ’60s-era youth when the role of women was about to change – and me with it.

When the main female characters, sisters Laura (Robbie) and Kate (Garner) were introduced as properly brought up Connecticut suburban girls – OMG! That was me! I recognized the clothes, hairstyles and make-up at the wedding reception. And it’s gutsy when beautiful Laura becomes a runaway bride and decides to become a Pan Am stewardess. Her sister Kate, who drives the getaway car, is already a Pan Am stewardess and a spy, but that’s another issue. The sight of their properly dressed mother screaming after them was symbolic. There was a life that was mapped out for us girls – college, marriage, children and suburban wifedom. Why would anyone want to throw all that away?

No, I didn’t run away from my wedding. But I will admit now, so many years later, I secretly always wanted to be a stewardess. I figured if I used my high school French I could fly Pan Am and go to Europe and see all those countries I had only read about. I read a book in high school about a girl who spent her junior year abroad and went to the Sorbonne – wow! But I never did it. I stayed in Connecticut.

But I really wanted to fly on Eastern Airlines. I would need my college Spanish, since back then they flew to Florida and South America. I imagined lots of beach time between flights. Actually, the reason I wanted Eastern was because their uniforms were cuter and shorter. It was a more politically incorrect time. National Airlines would use a picture of an attractive stewardess in an ad, and the tag line was, “I’m Cheryl, Fly Me.” The airlines were the hot corporate entities of that era, much like tech companies are today.

Being a stewardess was about looking cute, smiling and being a waitress. But it was also about going to other countries on your own, meeting new people and having a career.

I remember when I mentioned my stewardess dreams to my brother-in-law he was shocked.

“You’re in college, when you finish you could be a Vice President of an airline. Why do you want to be just a stewardess?” he cried.

Thinking back on that comment tells me two things. First, the women’s liberation movement was not far enough along for a man to think of me as the President of the airline. Also, many thought that passing out drinks and pillows was not considered a job for an educated woman.

On last night’s show it was clear the girls were smart and had to have language skills. But the requirements regarding their looks were severe. It is true Pan Am insisted their girls wear girdles and get weighed before a flight. I wouldn’t have minded wearing a girdle, which was common in those days. But I would dread the weigh-in! The show illustrated how women were judged on their looks. So, what else is new? Girls were suspended for uniform mistakes or being overweight.

I thought the ABC program did a credible job evoking the year 1963. Flying was exotic. Passengers got dressed up for each flight. If you look at how current passengers in coach or First Class dress you’ll see how drastically that changed. Today, everyone wears their most comfortable clothes and shoes.

For girls in 1963 being a stewardess represented a dream job. It was a chance to travel, wear cute outfits and meet handsome businessmen. Many stewardesses met their future husbands that way. However, as the episode portrayed, some were hurt by those handsome businessmen who neglected to mention their marital status.

I regret I didn’t become a stewardess, even if only for few years. It would have been fun. It seemed like fun until that beautiful Tuesday morning ten years ago.

It was perfect flying weather on Sept. 11, 2001. The sky was so blue. But now when we hear the voice of flight attendant Betty Ong on American Airlines Flight 11 it haunts us. I can’t help watching the 9/11 documentaries every year. It is bearing witness. She was so calm and professional trying to tell her American Airlines ground personnel what was happening on the hijacked plane. At one point the ground personnel keep calling her name and she doesn’t answer. They had no way of knowing that Flight 11 had slammed into the World Trade Center. Betty Ong was doing her job right up to the last moment.

Times have changed. Stewardesses are called Flight Attendants now. They are considered Safety Officers first, not waitresses. We have lost our innocence about flying. But “Pan Am” brings us back to 1963 for one hour at a time. It’s been revealed now that the State Department did use some Pan Am stewardesses as operatives. But believe me, at the time that was not the reason young girls wanted to fly.

It was for adventure, excitement and the idea of flying away from home and being free.

It is important because America is choosing to watch Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs catch “dirtbags.” It’s a cop show, you may say. Yes, but these cops are in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. They solve crimes involving Sailors and Marines. So for one hour every Tuesday (2 hours if you count “NCIS-Los Angeles,” the spinoff) we are in the world of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. 

There are many reasons to watch the show. It is face paced, clever and the audience is drawn into this team with all its unique characters. They are a family and we want to be one of them. They have talents we wish we had and they use them for good. 

Special Agent Tony Dinozza (Michael Weatherly) is the goof off from every office we’ve ever worked in. But he is a former cop and relies on his instincts to come up with that one idea that might solve the case. Of course, he is also a great shot and a good fighter which comes in handy with bad guys. 

Special Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray). He is the geek in the office. We know we need him but we can’t figure out what he is doing on the computer. But we pretend we do like Tony. In an increasingly technological world he is the hacker of choice. He is also a good field agent and can shoot as well as the rest of them. I like him especially because he is a best-selling author who wrote a book loosely based on his team mates. 

Forensics Specialist Abby Shuitto (Pauley Perrette), a goth with a master degree in Forensic Science, finds that impossible bit of DNA or chemical compound that solves the case. When all the others have to keep their cool, she is the emotional outlet for all of us. Alone in her lab she plays music, sings, talks to her machines and yells. 

Officer Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)… After last night’s episode I think we can call her “Special Agent.” A former Mossad agent with Daddy problems, she had the task of joining the team after the death of Special Agent Caitlin Todd by Ari the terrorist who turns out to be her half brother who she had to kill to save Gibbs (a little soap opera). I love her character. She is tough, complicated very capable and wounded emotionally. And she wears her Star of David around her neck for all to see. 

Dr. Donald Mallard or “Ducky” (David McCallum), the medical examiner who talks to the corpse. I’ve learned a lot of stuff listening to his digressions into history. He is the symbol of integrity and honor. His work is to find out how the victim was killed so he can help the team catch the killer. But he never forgets the specimen in front of him was once a living human being who has a family and friends who loved him. 

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), the Special Agent in charge of the team. I left him for last because he is the embodiment of why I think this show says something about America. He is an ex-Marine and fought in Desert Storm. But we learn from him that there is no such thing as an ex-Marine. He is a wounded soul who tragically lost his family. He has seen war and understands those who are in battle now. He knows the truth about the world as he yelled at Dinozzo once, “We are at war and I expect you to fight that war 24/7” His younger team members look up to him and want his approval. He is hard to please. He expects the best. We can all remember a teacher who was really hard on us but whom we appreciated later because we learned to be our best. 

One thing Gibbs teaches us is that members of the Navy and the Marines are human like us. But because of their choice to serve we should appreciate the sacrifices and pressures they and their families endure while protecting us. The Navy’s motto is “Honor, Courage and Commitment” and sailors strive to live up to it every day on carriers, submarines and in far away bases.  Semper Fidelius-Always Faithful is the Marine motto.  Once a Marine, always a Marine. This sense of being committed to something greater than one’s self is what makes this show different and why viewers are drawn to it. 

All of this crime fighting takes place on Navy and Marine bases, aircraft carriers, submarines, and the Navy Yard. Sometimes it is just like civilian crime. It could be a jealous husband, wife or lover, betrayed best friends, or criminals turning on each other. But our team knows that any crime involving the military can threaten the security of the United States. Navy and Marine personnel deal with sensitive information everyday. These investigators have to know what is merely crime or something bigger and more dangerous. 

There has always been an overt acknowledgement on the show of the threat of terrorism The real NCIS agents deal with anti-terrorism operations.  To the real agents and those on the show it is not a “man-made disaster,” it is a terrorist attack. The war in Iraq or Afghanistan is not an “overseas contingency operation.” It is real war and it will go on for a long time even if our approved political vocabulary does not recognize it. We are in danger every minute and this team recognizes it. That is one of the reasons why I believe the show is such a hit. 

It is sad that the threat of terrorism is more real on a TV show than in our government. I noticed the other day that Janet Napolitano, our Homeland Security Secretary, had to admit in an interview that there were some people in the United States with al Qaeda leanings that want to hurt us. Duh!!! 

But on Tuesday nights, when we watch “NCIS,” we know Gibbs has our back. Semper Fi!

Obama won in 2008 with 53% of the vote. The President felt he had a mandate to enact his legislative programs. But a lot of those independents and moderates who voted for him are having buyer’s remorse. It is clear that the President is far to the left of the average American. The Van Jones episode should make that obvious. It is not that Van Jones slipped through the vetting process and no one knew his true views. Van Jones represents the views of the administration. Van Jones is Obama. They just didn’t want the average American voter to find out about it.

The President also tried to hide his real agenda in health care-the government single payer system. But it didn’t work. According to Rasmussen, ObamaCare, is opposed by 53% of the people. Only 43% support it.  However with old fashioned arm twisting, an unpopular bill like ObamaCare can still pass a Democrat Congress. According to Rasmussen, 57% of the people would like to replace this Congress! But that doesn’t matter to ideologues on the Left. They want their agenda passed even if the public is against it. Once a bill is enacted, it is difficult to dismantle the structure. There must be a remedy for this. 

We elect a President every four years but we pay taxes every year. I propose that we create a Check-Off on our Federal Tax Form like the Presidential Campaign Fund. Every year all the bills signed by the President would be listed and we could check off if we want our tax money to go towards it. If our IRS Form listed ObamaCare, Cap and Trade, Stimulus, Auto Bailouts, TARP, how much money do you think these programs would be able to spend if we had a say in it?

It took Congressional legislation to create the Presidential Campaign Fund Check-Off. There is precedent. States use this type of check off on their tax returns to raise money for a many charitable and social causes. Some states have programs to fund the Olympics, veterans, disease research, prevention of child abuse and senior programs. California, of course, has a check off for sea otters. Many people don’t care about sea otters and don’t want their money spent on them. But those who care, can check it off. That’s fair!

States have many ways to differentiate between political and charitable check offs and how it affects the taxpayer’s liability or refund. But in the end it is all political since even charities have to lobby the legislature to be included on the tax form.

There will be constitutional issues involved. We are a republic not a democracy. Congress has the right to appropriate money. However it has already been adapted for the purpose of the Presidential Campaign Fund by legislation. Maybe it could be triggered by the gap between what a President won by and support for a bill. If there is a 10% gap in support for a bill like ObamaCare then we have the right to the Check Off on our next tax return. There must be a way of doing this.

This would give us a yearly “vote of confidence or no-confidence” in Presidential leadership.

Of course the Democratic Congress will never enact this. They don’t want to give all of those angry people power. But Republicans can make it an issue in the 2010 campaign. “Do you support the Check Off?” could be the question to everyone who is running for Congress. Considering the inversion of the poll numbers we could call it the 53% solution!

The protestors of “Not in Our Name” believed that President Bush was not speaking for them when he took actions that they did not approve. According to their website they wanted to create a ‘culture of resistance.’ “Not in Our Name”, along with other leftist protest groups were very successful in demonizing President Bush and the war effort both in Afghanistan and Iraq. Barack Obama was elected largely as an anti-war President. “Not in Our Name” disbanded in 2008. On their website  they encourage their followers to join similar groups like “Code Pink” and “United for Peace and Justice.” Whether they will re-emerge to protest the widening war in Afghanistan will be an interesting family food fight for the left. 

That phase “Not in our Name” now makes sense to me after months of disastrous foreign policy and domestic actions by the Obama administration. They made me angry enough to admit the Left’s concept was correct. Conservatives need to develop a “culture of resistance.”

My anger began with the Cairo speech when the President equated the slaughter of six million Jews in the Holocaust with the alleged daily humiliations of Palestinians. Then came the ‘World Apology Tour’. The President apologized for the past sins of America’s ‘arrogance’ all over the world. It was embarrassing. But this cringe producing rhetoric is the basic leftist ‘blame America” mantra.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is apologizing too. The Left really believes that any foreign policy issue we are facing can be traced back to some reprehensible act of the United States that was committed prior to Obama’s transformative election! I wanted to shout “you don’t speak for me”

On his trip to Russia the President should have pressed Russia on their aggression in Georgia, nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea and missile defense in a dangerous world. Instead the President wanted to offer concessions in order to cut back on Russian nuclear weapons which are no threat to us.

But it got worse. Iran erupted in protests against their own government over a rigged election. The brave people in the streets of Tehran were being beaten and killed. What was the President’s emotionless response? “That’s not how a government should interact with its people” Would any American say that after they stared at bloody pictures from Iran transmitted by cell phone or Twitter. It took a lot of complaining for the White House to finally use the words “shocked and appalled” to describe it. America has always been a beacon of hope to oppressed people in the world because it stood for democracy and personal freedom. Ronald Reagan was not afraid to call the Soviets an “Evil Empire’ at a time when they had nuclear weapons pointed at us. What has happened to our moral compass? In the Honduran crisis, the administration sided with the Castro brothers and Hugo Chavez and against the constitution of Honduras. Since when do we support the efforts of a leader to extend his term in office outside the law.  Do you think Obama would have supported a right wing South American President if he wanted to extend his term? After all of that I understood why “Not in Our Name” was formed.

Americans voted for “change we can believe in” not the dismantling of the capitalist system in favor of a state run economy. Many independents and Republicans said in justifying their support for Obama in the belief that he was a pragmatist not an ideologue. He would use the smartest people to come up with the best solutions to the problems facing us. Those of us who said he was a leftist radical were ridiculed. But actions speak louder than words.

All the legislative and administrative actions on the domestic front are geared to consolidating the power of the state. Obama has appointed 34 separate Czars of everything who usurp the powers of the Cabinet Secretaries and Congress and report to the White House. It is a parallel government. The President has pushed the stimulus package, cap and trade, health care through so fast that no one can read the bills. All of these policies have been tried in Europe. Their governments are moving away from them.

The recent push back from Democrats on health care has created panic in the administration. The public is waking up to what government health-care rationing would mean and what it would cost. Conservative Democrats have to go back to their districts and explain their votes. The Tea Party movement has decided to take on health care as an issue. I am sure they can come up with some creative signs like “Don’t let Grandma die, we still love her!”

Actions by the President make me respond to the phrase “Not in Our Name” also regard something as basis as our religious heritage. When the President spoke at Georgetown University, the White House requested that the initials IHS, a symbol for Jesus, and the cross above the GU seal be covered during his speech. Georgetown University was founded by the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits. Its Catholic faith is a vital part of its history and identity.  By accepting the invitation, the President, a Christian, should have shown respect for its heritage and the place of religion in our country. Does this mean that if the President speaks at my graduate school-Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, he will request that the Star of David or the Ten Commandments be covered? Has the White House forgotten that ‘endowed by our Creator” is in the Declaration of Independence?

All this has made me conclude that the Left had the right idea about protest. They have always been better at it than our side. It’s a group thing. Conservatives prize individualism. So it is against our nature to do this. But we can learn from their success.

The Left learned organizing in the 60’s when they protested against the Vietnam War. They were always on the side of resisting the establishment which included our parents. I remember a party at Boston University in the sixties. I was dressed in my coordinated skirt, sweater and matching flats. The other students were not as well dressed. But the grungy guy I was with was cute. We sat together as a few of his friends agreed that the “revolution” was coming soon. As I sipped beer I didn’t like, I was straining to understand. I thought to myself “what revolution are they talking about?”

In the 60’s college kids were protesting the establishment- the war machine, government, parental authority, the constraints of the culture-remember free love and drugs. They wanted the breakdown of existing authority which was deemed to be evil, to create this free utopia where they could do anything they wanted.

The real Left, the older radicals, knew the truth. The new order had to be authoritarian to put in place a socialist form of government. The college kids didn’t get that part. Socialism has to be authoritarian to be effective. The power structure has to control the means of production and services. It is always an elite group at the top that makes the decisions.

The Left is still expecting the “revolution”. But now they control of the government. They are making the revolution happen from the inside. The radicals that were the counter-culture are now the establishment. Therefore conservatives must create a “culture of resistance” and become the counter-culture. We must resist the authoritarian system. We must call for “freedom”. We must demand choice in health care, freedom from taxes that fund programs we don’t agree with and freedom to celebrate the religious heritage of our country.  We must also say loudly “you don’t speak for me” when the President does not put the national interests of the United States first!

Our “culture of resistance” must be an aggressive constant thorn in the side of the new radical establishment. Let’s see how the Left likes being on the other side of the barricades!

President Obama should have a nickname from our side. Words mean something we are reminded all the time. So I am going to name him “The Smile.” 

If you watch him at “town meetings” when he’s pressing his agenda and making statements that go unchallenged from the adoring crowds, he comes across as calm, reassuring and easy going while he’s attempting to dismantle American capitalism. His answer to everything is to smile. 

From my perspective in Hollywood, I see that people respond to him like they do to a movie star. It’s the face, the eyes, the smile, not what he says. This phenomenon shows up in the polls. His personal popularity holds around 60%, but if you ask about specific policies, Americans don’t agree with him. Americans by wide margins do not want to close Guantanamo, are against affirmative action, and against late term abortion. The majority want him to cancel the stimulus and hate the bailouts! 

But out here in L.A. we understand this. Star quality is not scientific. We just know it when we see it. Fans react to a star with an adoration which makes them buys tickets to movies and buy the DVD so they can watch it over and over. Just listen to the fans screams for the stars on the red carpet at the awards shows. 

President Obama’s crowds in the campaign and his town meetings have the same reaction. All he has to do is smile. 

Unfortunately, journalists have been reacting the same way. They remind me of adoring teenagers for Robert Pattison in “Twilight,” Zach Efron in “High School Musical” or Chris Pine in “Star Trek.” 

The mainstream media (or as Rush says, the state-run media!) have fallen in love with his smile. If they were acting like real journalists they would ask tough questions and do investigative reporting on his proposals and statements. Instead, at so-called press conferences, they ask mushy questions that allow him to pontificate. No one challenges him like they did President Bush. Surprise, surprise! At some point they should be embarrassed that they’re not doing their job. But so far they’re not. 

I nicknamed him “The Smile” when I thought back to an episode of “Law and Order Criminal Intent.” A world famous model played by Brook Shields was referred to as “The Smile” It fit. A model doesn’t have to say anything. 

The reaction to President Obama also reminded me of the movie “The Way We Were.” Robert Redford played Hubbell Gardner, the golden boy every girl fell in love with, including Barbara Streisand. He wrote a novel with a sad and prophetic line “Everything came too easily to him.” 

That is how I see President Obama. His meteoric rise to power from state government to U.S. Senate was too fast. Once he got there, he spent all his time running for President. His apostles devoted themselves to his rise. All hopes were invested in him. Oprah fell for him too. When anyone, like Hillary or Bill Clinton raised doubts about him he made everyone feel better with “the smile.” 

When I was a Democrat, I worked on a DNC event at the Beverly Hilton. President Clinton was there to raise money. He leaned over the podium speaking directly to the crowd. His genius was he made people think he was one of them and understood their pain. I looked around and saw that everyone was mesmerized. They couldn’t take their eyes off of him. They looked drugged. 

Obama is more aloof and unreachable, like a movie star. Most people can’t hope to get close to a star or talk to him. Actually you don’t care what he actually says. When a movie star smiles, the crowd cheer. They just want to be near him — to see him smile! 

We can be angry on the right about this phenomenon. But it will take someone from the state-run media to break the spell. 

A brave journalist will have to stop acting like a star-struck teenager and ask the hard questions and the hard follow-up questions. Only then, like the fable, will everyone realize that the Emperor has no clothes!

And “the smile” will not be able to cover that.