Did people really vote for Obama because they felt inspired by him?

I didn't vote for Obama because I feel inspired by him. I voted for him because I read about him, I didn't want Hillary in, and, I felt like he understood the tough times we're in, and that he would be a rational President. I don't understand how someone could vote for him just for his speeches. I also don't understand why so many young people voted for him because of how inspired they were by his hope and change speeches. I mean I'll give the other people that voted for him a break because so far he's been keeping most of his promises.

But I really can't understand why so many people would vote for him because he makes inspiring speeches. For me, I read about him and I agree with him on many issues. While I disagree with him on how he wants to help the economy as most Democrats are liberal for the economy meaning they are for more regulation... I agree with the Democratic platform on social issues.

The thing that I have trouble understanding is why so many people are attracted to him because of his manner of speaking. It's a good thing to have a President that is good at making speeches. But it's bad in my opinion when all the masses are flocking towards him as if they think he's a messiah so they want to see him speak. These are tough times so people want to be inspired and so far Obama's doing a good job yes... I'll grant him that. I just can't understand why people felt the way they felt about him during the election. I understand the group think phenomenon a bit. I understood that he meant that he wants change as a change from Bush but I also made the extra step to think about what values he stands for and whether I agree with him or not. I felt that he is good at understanding the situations we're in and I'm glad he can connect with us, that's good, I actually see when he speaks that he makes an effort to empathize with people. But, I just can't understand this feeling of connection people share with him.

Please, I hope I'm not the only one that doesn't understand this.

I am sure that a lot of people did vote for him due to his charisma. That is what they saw in the MSM....eloquent sound bytes and adoring crowds.

To me, it says less about Obama than it does about voting public.

I honestly blame the uninformed voter majority. To quote a close personal friend (in his early 20's) "I don't know much about politics, I just wanna see a black president."

Well as a Canadian I can't stand the guy.
(Especially now as he is in my hometown,the capitol of Canada and clogging up the roads and making people pissed off at all the rerouting of traffic for his highness.)

As much as I dislike him,even I was mesmerized by his being voted in.I found it inspiring even tho in the back of my mind Its the same boss with a different suit.

when he is reading off a paper he does great, but when he did his first press release a week or two ago, I was dumbfounded by his inablity to go more the five words with out "um er" I lost count after 145 times. not to mention numerous other public speaking no-no's he committed. and talk about content, he said the same thing OVER AND OVER, no matter what his question was.

I was furious in his debates because he never answered the question, he usually made a joke about the person asking the question for not being as "brilliant" as he thinks he is.

I know many who claim he is a great orator, but if thats what they wanted they could have done alot better with Morgan Freeman, or even Ron Howard for that matter, Frozen Bluth Banana anyone?

I was a communications major and i have yet to find ANYTHING the man has said that i would consider to be insightful.

i have noticed a plethora of NLP though, each sentence out his mouth is BRAZEN Nuero linguistics placement, but thats presidential talk for you.

Originally posted by drsmooth23
when he is reading off a paper he does great, but when he did his first press release a week or two ago, I was dumbfounded by his inablity to go more the five words with out "um er" I lost count after 145 times. not to mention numerous other public speaking no-no's he committed. and talk about content, he said the same thing OVER AND OVER, no matter what his question was.

I was furious in his debates because he never answered the question, he usually made a joke about the person asking the question for not being as "brilliant" as he thinks he is.

I know many who claim he is a great orator, but if thats what they wanted they could have done alot better with Morgan Freeman, or even Ron Howard for that matter, Frozen Bluth Banana any
one?

I was a communications major and i have yet to find ANYTHING the man has said that i would consider to be insightful.

i have noticed a plethora of NLP though, each sentence out his mouth is BRAZEN Nuero linguistics placement, but thats presidential talk for you.

i am in a communications class now, you fail the speech for saying umm a lot, good thing obama isnt in my class

I think America wants to believe in something more then themselves.

We feel powerless and frustrated and Obama represented change and hope for so many.

I don't think there is anything wrong with feeling hope whether it was from a man who is real or not. It's the idea that people still believe in our country that moved me. Not the man himself.

Yes it was based on being moved for so many, but in a corrupt world with people feeling lost and angry a little bit of positive love for our fellow man is good.

He may suck and be the worse president ever, but for a short glimpse in our history so many people felt empowered and moved and more resolved to do good in their lives.

Call it koolaid or whatever, but it did bring a lot of smiles and happiness to so many when he was elected.

Personally I chose to change myself and my family and do it without Obama and his promises. Change is after-all a personal thing. Find the good in it all whether you agree with the man or not.

Sometimes when we watch MSM, we get the idea that the people they talk to on the street or in their stories represent the majority. Remember, news channels will pick the most dramatic footage and show it over and over again.

I'm not sure if that's where you get the idea that so many voted for him because of his speeches, but I bet if you did a scientific poll, you'd find that a lot more people voted for him because of this policies than anything else. Or because he represents something different than the Bush years.

Being great at delivering a speech is a skill that is appreciated, but I doubt that's why the majority of people voted for him. It's nice to have an intelligent, thoughtful and well-spoken president, but that's not why I (and I believe most people) voted for him. His speech-making abilities and inspiring hope are just added benefits.

Having said all that, I don't care why someone else votes. It's their vote and they can use it however they see fit. If they voted for Palin because she's cute, that's their choice. If they voted for Obama because he's a good speaker or inspired hope, who am I to criticize them? There are no rules that state our reasons behind our votes. We are free to use it as we like.

Edited to add link

Gallup Poll

It is clear that the "change" mantra has resonated with Obama supporters. Thirty-seven percent of his supporters cite "change" as the reason for their support, by far the largest single response category for his voters.

Other reasons given by those supporting Obama include his economic plan/ability to handle the economy, general agreement with his values or issues, the respondent's propensity to vote Democratic, Obama's support for the working and middle classes, his plan for the Iraq war, and his honesty.

These themes in general appear to reflect the dominant thrusts of the Obama campaign: change, fixing the economy, helping the working and middle classes, and Iraq.

[edit on 19-2-2009 by Benevolent Heretic]