Jimmy = Barry

So disaffected was bicentennial America that it sought leaders unconnected to the establishment. In Jimmy Carter, voters found a candidate whose main qualifications were his lack of experience and connections within the Beltway or corporate worlds. Like Barack Obama, Carter claimed to rise above failed partisanship, while his New South background allowed him to symbolize racial healing. Carter, like Obama, sold himself mainly on the virtues of his character. He presented himself as a man of simple honesty, faith, and decency, and his lack of a track record allowed voters to see in him what they wanted, however far-fetched those hopes might be. If they hadn’t believed it, they wouldn’t have seen it with their own eyes. Above all, Carter promised change, a message that carried weight as long as its details remained nonspecific. The problem with messiahs from nowhere is that when they do exercise power, people discover to their horror what their leader’s actual views and talents are. The disillusion can be dreadful. -- Philip Jenkins, The American Conservative

I believe that people see the person they want to see when they are sizing someone up for the first time. A lot of people see Barry Obama as a sort of a fair-minded, even-handed, reasonable sort of a guy, who can convince a nation to do the right thing. Many people never get beyond the first look before pulling the lever. They want to believe that Barry is the guy they hope he is.

The last person your Wizer ever voted for for president who actually won was (believe it or not) Jimmy Carter. I spent the next 32 years regretting that vote. Like many Americans, I saw a certain simplicity and innocence there; only to find too late that his vision was not at all the same as mine. Not even close. It wasn't until after the election that I realized that I had been had. The best candidate in 1976 was not Gerald Ford, of course. It was Robert Ringer.

Forget Blagojevich. Yes, Barry and Rod were brought to you by the same Illinois political machine, but Barry will have all the teflon he needs to get through the next four years, courtesy of what's left of the mainstream media. Besides, Barry is the person people voted for, and they will defend him until he is irretrievably broken. What's really unfortunate is what's going to happen in government in the meantime. When that mess is made, we will all wish we never voted for Carter all over again.