THE AURA

Posted at 7:38 a.m. ET

The Chicago Tribune, true to this year's trendiness, has endorsed Barack Obama, the first time the paper ever endorsed a Democrat.  But an op-ed columnist, Dennis Byrne, in an eloquent piece that should be widely read, will have none of it.  It is called, "The Aura of Mr. Smooth," and it is very good:

Aura: (n.) A general impression produced by a predominant quality or characteristic: air, ambience, atmosphere, feel, feeling, mood, tone.

A single word explains why Barack Obama might be president. Aura perfectly describes the Democratic candidate. An aura, the dictionary says, is the distinctive, but intangible air that surrounds a person. It derives from the ancient Greek, meaning breath or gentle breeze. I particularly like the third definition, which says an aura is "the supposed emanation surrounding the body of a living creature, viewed by mystics, spiritualists and some practitioners of complementary medicine as the essence of the individual and allegedly discernible by people with special sensibilities."

So true, so true.

Those of us with below-average sensibilities can only ponder how Obama has managed to establish a cult of personality the way no other presidential candidate has, except perhaps John F. Kennedy...

...Obama's aura overcomes his inexperience, his most liberal voting record and his outright deceptions (e.g. reneging on his pledge to take public campaign financing, and thereby limiting his campaign advertising).

More truth.

We could have 10 more presidential debates over the differences between Obama and John McCain on foreign policy, Immigration, the economy, government ethics and so on, but it wouldn't matter. Intricate policy differences between the two don't matter, because only aura counts. Because of his aura, Obama can engage in a presidential debate, and his aloofness and one-note message of "change" will be misinterpreted by burbling commentators as thoughtful, calm and intelligent discourse.

Yes, didn't the smooth and aura-equipped Colin Powell comment on Obama's calmness and thoughtfulness?

We are about to elect a president because of how he makes us feel, not how he makes us think.

Anyone care to deny that?  He is the ultimate candidate of the sixties generation.  If it feels good, do it.

Voters, never, ever have elected a president with policies this far to the left; rare, indeed, is the senator or congressman who is further left.

But, wait.  We can't say that.  Why, that's McCarthyism.  Isn't it?

Having aura is fine, but electing a president based on whether he or she possesses it shows curious understanding of how democracy is supposed to work.

Yes, tens of millions of Americans will feel wonderful when Obama is elected and maybe the stock market, the housing market and the rest of the economy will boom from that good feeling. I hope so, because that's just about what has been guaranteed by a vote for Obama, and I can't wait.

He will turn water into Kool-Aid, and we will drink it.

But there's this. After the aura has burned away—like the early-morning summer mist disappears before a rising sun—the president needs to make tough, on-the-run and wise decisions. It is then when a president's basic inclinations surface, about whether to involve the government more in your life, take more of your money or, in the face of our enemies, speak softy and carry a little stick. And then, the pathological definition of aura comes into play: a sensation, as of a cold breeze or a bright light, that precedes the onset of certain disorders, such as an epileptic seizure or an attack of migraine.

Or, more precisely, an attack of a real, actual problem that requires something more than Mr. Smooth.

Very well said.  And all true.

October 21, 2008.