Why do critics call Obama the savior if they don't like him?

Please... can someone fill me in on why conservatives/critics like to call Obama the savior? I'm a liberal and I think I have more of a realistic grasp on the issues than these critics do about what Obama is and what he stands for. He stands for basically the same things that John Kerry stood for. Obama stands for liberal values (as he is a liberal). I can't believe how conservatives are thinking he's the messiah for making promises that cater to the liberal base.

Other Democratic Presidents in the past have pushed forward these liberal promises like education reforms... women right acts... and we have passed minimum wage laws... medicare/medicaid (which I know is ineffective now but not the point)... but it seems to me like these Republicans/critics are labeling Obama as the savior when in reality he's just another liberal... like me. Obama may be a bit more inspiring than me but I don't call him the savior and I have realistic expectations as to what he can and can't do. I don't understand why critics call him the savior or the anti christ or the messiah. I don't think he'll do any of those things.

We (Democrats) have supported him because he shares values similar to ours, he has similar ideas to us... and while he may not be able to keep all his promises in his campaign he was the most liberal senator when he served his tenure in the Senate so I'll expect him to not disappoint.

I just don't have that much of an expectation out of him. I just expect him to respect the constitution since he was a constitutional law professor.

I however, do not believe he is the savior.

Is this some kind of smear campaign that critics are running against Obama to try to make it seem like his supporters are ignorant?

[edit on 13-1-2009 by Frankidealist35]

It's sarcasm plain and simple. He made big promises during the campaign. Promises so big only someone "supernatural" could hope to fulfill a sizeable portion of them.

I was overheard making a disparaging (i compared his economic picks to the people Bush has and said what change?) remark to a friend I hadn't seen in a while about our President elect today by a person in a "Yes we can T-shirt". I'm currently battling pneumonia and wasn't quite in the best of moods. As she confronted me saying "you just don't like him because he is black". I said "Ma'am, we are both in the Doctors office today, and while I'm talking to a friend I haven't seen in a while about the recent election. I'm in no shape or mood to debate politics, but if you can tell me what the 3 branches of government are and what the 13th and 15th amendments do I'll be more than happy to give you the opportunity to debate till one of us gets called back." She said something smart (but not literally smart). I had to chuckle. As she was leaving and I was paying my co-pay and she filling out her medicaid info, I said Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. I highly doubt she has the intellectual curiosity to look up the other question I asked, but still it made me feel better.

The reason is two pronged.

First is to plant the seed of doubt in which any falter, hesitation or outright mistake will be magnified can be used to prove he is imperfect and therefore not the messiah/savior/king of kings etc. The lack of investigative journalism by the liberal leaning media outlets and the outraged the more vocal of the conservative media (Rush, Coulter, Hanity, Savage, et al).

Second is a sour grapes perspective eventhough my cat might have campaigned harder than McCain did with the exception of after the Palin Bounce. But to give credit to McCain, he was using a page out of Ford's book from 1976 and almost made it work. Where he failed was he waited too long and the selection of Palin. Because like Ford, the polls were close but SNL and public perception fixed that.

So the whole reason is to mock Obama publicly. And there may be an openly veiled reference to calling him a nickname of Jesus to Obama's Islamic upbringing.

[edit on 13-1-2009 by Ahabstar]

When I saw the title of your post, I wanted to respond. But because of one line restrictions, this would not work. Let alone one word. Sarcasm.