Obamania Reaches Texas

In the last few presidential elections, we here in the Lone Star State were deprived of the opportunity to play a decisive role. By the time our March primary rolls around, the deal is usually done for both parties.

Some pundits argue that such will again be the case this year, with Barack Obama having dealt a near-knockout blow to Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin yesterday. I am not yet prepared to write off the Clintons, whose cat-like political survival skills may yet bring them back to life. It thus falls to Texas to finish the job.

Because we do not have party registration here, it is possible that many Republicans will choose to vote in the Democratic primary for the sole purpose of ending Hillary's White House dreams, once and for all. But if the reports of Obama's reception in Texas are anywhere close to accurate, he's going to win anyway.

The religious fervor surrounding Obama is starting to scare me. A new blog is covering this phenomenon: Is Barack Obama the Messiah? Another good summary can be found in this post by Mark Shea.

For instance, consider the following photo. Judging from their demeanor, what sort of event would you say these people are attending? Is it:

• A charismatic Christian tent revival?
• A Scientology conference led by Tom Cruise?
• Meditations with the Dalai Lama?
• An IMAX presentation of top Reagan speeches?

The answer is none of the above. These earnest young folks would probably not be caught dead at any such events. They are, however, proud to be seen and photographed at a Barack Obama rally.

Pundits differ on whether Clinton or Obama has a better chance of beating McCain in the general election. Personally I think McCain will lose to either one of them. If so, it now looks very likely that Barack Obama will be our next president. Now is a good time to start getting used to the idea.

There is one small advantage: for the first time in 20 years, we will have a president whose last name is neither Clinton nor Bush. It will also be fun to watch Obamania collapse - which it almost certainly will when he starts making hard decisions that actually effect people's lives. "Change" isn't always a good thing. I suspect there will be some mighty long faces among the Obama Faithful by the end of 2009.