Remember when?

Writing my column about President Barack Obama’s first year I was looking for some articles about his stop in Bloomington before the Indiana presidential primary. I stumbled across this YouTube video:

I remember attending that rally. Everyone in Assembly Hall was pretty excited. The person sitting next to me was so excited that, while chanting “yes, we can” over and again, he felt the need to keep touching me. 

The speech was pretty pretty typical for Obama. He claimed that “this election is different” and talked of our generation making its mark. 

That election was important, but in one key aspect it was just like any other. Candidates offered over-the-top rhetoric and played on political myths over substantive policy discussions.

Americans largely indulged them. I am not sure why we always forget how different governing this country is from campaigning to do so. A lot of people certainly put faith in Obama’s ability to be transformative simply because he said he would be.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think our generation is uniquely guilty of getting overhyped about these sorts of things. And I also think Obama has had a good start as President. 

But it is important to acknowledge now, a year after the election, that too much of Obama’s campaign was empty fluff.