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Many aspects of the public image of United States President Barack Obama are unusual among American politicians and stand in stark contrast to those of many of his former opponents.

During his candidacy for President, his international and biracial background was unprecedented and engendered questions of racial authenticity and religious affiliation. Obama's lack of experience on the national stage became a recurring theme used by former rivals Hillary Clinton and John McCain. His perceived combination of political savvy, calm and even temperament, and conservative support have all been credited with his election to the Presidency.

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Origins and identity

Race and culture

Obama is of biracial background: the son of a Kenyan Luo father and a Kansan White American mother of European descent. With his upbringing in Honolulu and Jakarta and his Ivy League education, Obama's early life experiences differ markedly from many of the African American politicians who launched their careers in the 1960s through participation in the civil rights movement. In January 2007, The End of Blackness author Debra Dickerson warned against drawing favorable cultural implications from Obama's political rise: "Lumping us all together," Dickerson wrote in Salon, "erases the significance of slavery and continuing racism while giving the appearance of progress."

Film critic David Ehrenstein, writing in a March 2007 Los Angeles Times article, compared the cultural sources of Obama's favorable polling among whites to those of "magical negro" roles played by black actors in Hollywood movies. Expressing puzzlement over questions about whether he is "black enough," Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that the debate is not about his physical appearance or his record on issues of concern to black voters. Obama said, "we're still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks then there must be something wrong."

After a McCain advertisement accused Obama of being just a celebrity like Britney Spears or Paris Hilton, Obama asserted that McCain and other Republicans would try to scare voters because he (Obama) "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills." A subsequent poll reported that although only 22% of Americans (58% of African-Americans) viewed McCain's advertisement as racist, 53% saw Obama's response as such (44% of African-Americans). The Obama camp initially denied that the comment was on race, but campaign strategist David Axelrod later conceded that it was.

A post-2008 election poll by FactCheck.org found that about 42% of Americans either incorrectly believe that Obama is of Arabic ancestry or they are not sure about his ethnicity.

Religion

Obama was raised in a semi-religious atmosphere by his non-traditional family. His spiritual change of heart as an adult and his coming to believe in Christianity is a major part of his autobiography Dreams from My Father. Obama has stated that he "felt a beckoning of the spirit" at this time. He has also said that his political/ethical beliefs are "guided by his Christian faith" including belief "in the power of prayer."

Obama is a Protestant Christian, but July 2008 polls showed that some Americans incorrectly believed that he is Muslim or was raised Muslim (12% and 26%, respectively, in Pew and Newsweek polls). Citing the latter poll by CNN's Larry King, Obama responded, "...I wasn't raised in a Muslim home," and he said that advancement of the misconception insulted Muslim Americans. In November 2008, James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute expressed in a news report (reacting in part to a satirical New Yorker cover) that ethnic caricature involving faulty depiction of Obama's faith harms Muslim Americans, impeding their "opportunity to participate in the political process."

Much of the speculations came from chain e-mails of unknown origin during Obama's campaign. Publications which speculate Obama's allegedly concealed Muslim heritage include The Obama Nation (published August 1, 2008) by Jerome Corsi. His book opens with a quote by Andy Martin, who The Nation, The Washington Post, and The New York Times have identified as the primary source for the allegations that Obama is concealing an alleged Muslim faith. Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes has also repeatedly commented on Obama's alleged Muslim faith.

The FactCheck.org report mentioned before also found that only 40% of Americans could successfully identify Obama as a Protestant Christian. Speculation about Obama's supposed Muslim heritage has been widely denounced in the news media by both political supporters and political opponents of Obama, such as David Freddoso in his book The Case Against Barack Obama, alike.

In March 2009, the Pew Research Center reported that 11% of Americans still believed that Obama was a Muslim, with the percentages highest (19%) among self-identified white Evangelical Protestants and people who disapproved of Obama's job performance, and lowest (6%) among blacks and college graduates. The poll indicated that 48% of those surveyed believed that he was Christian, down 3% from October 2008 (51%), and that 35% did not know his religion.

Political image

Youth and experience

In a December 2006 Wall Street Journal editorial headlined "The Man from Nowhere," Ronald Reagan speech writer and Fox News pundit Peggy Noonan advised "establishment" commentators to avoid becoming too quickly excited about Obama's still-early political career. Echoing the inaugural address of John F. Kennedy, Obama acknowledged his youthful image, saying in an October 2007 campaign speech, "I wouldn't be here if, time and again, the torch had not been passed to a new generation."

During the 2008 election season, Barack Obama's experience was a topic of contention. Both Democratic and Republican politicians criticized his experience in regard to whether he was ready to be President of the United States. After his nomination the criticism was mostly from Republican politicians; many Democratic politicians stated that they believed that Obama was ready. Criticism was almost exclusively centered on his readiness for the position of commander in chief, as opposed to his abilities as a public servant. Hillary Clinton often stated during her unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination that Obama would not be a candidate who's ready on "Day One". After conceding the race for the nomination, she endorsed Obama. While campaigning for president, Joe Biden believed that Obama could eventually be ready for the job of president, but that at the time he was not ready. Biden, now Obama's vice president, has since revised his beliefs on Obama's readiness, but his quotes from the 2008 Democratic Debates were used in campaign ads for John McCain. Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman has criticized Obama's experience and readiness, citing his response to the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008.

Political savvy

Several stories in the Anglo-American news media state that a prominent part of Obama's political image is a belief that Obama's rhetoric and actions toward political reform are matched with a political savvy that often includes a measure of expediency. In a The New Yorker feature article, for example, reporter Ryan Lizza wrote, " campaigns on reforming a broken political process, yet he has always played politics by the rules as they exist, not as he would like them to exist."

The Economist has stated that "If Mr Obama really were the miracle-working, aisle-jumping, consensus-seeking new breed of politician his spin-doctors make him out to be, you would expect to see the evidence in these eight years... Obama spent the whole period without any visible sign of rocking the Democratic boat." After Obama decided not to take public financing during his 2008 campaign, USA Today editorialized that "Real reformers don't do it just when it's convenient." The Associated Press has stated that "In office two months, he has backpedaled on an array of issues, gingerly shifting positions as circumstances dictate while ducking for political cover to avoid undercutting his credibility and authority."

Elitism

Opponents Clinton and McCain sharply criticized and accused Obama of elitism after he said of small-town Pennsylvanians, "And it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Obama responded to the criticism by pointing out that he was raised by a single mother, in a family that had little money, and he used scholarships to get his education.

Another allegation of elitism came from Jesse Jackson, who criticized Barack Obama in 2007 for "acting like he's white," in response to the Jena 6 beating case. Additionally, on July 6, 2008, during an interview with Fox News, a microphone picked up Jackson whispering to fellow guest Dr. Reed Tuckson: "See, Barack's been, ahh, talking down to black people on this faith-based... I want to cut his nuts out." Jackson was expressing his disappointment in Obama's Father's Day speech chastisement of Black fathers. Following his Fox News interview, Jackson apologized and reiterated his support for Obama.

Conservative support

Obama has garnered support from a number of Republicans and conservatives. Republicans who support Obama have been labeled "Obama Republican" or Obamacans. Gallup has conducted weekly polls of registered voters to measure support amongst the candidates. A poll conducted between October 13 and October 19 2008 showed 5% support for Barack Obama from Conservative Republicans, and 15% support from Moderate/Liberal Republicans. Obama's support among Conservative Republicans peaked at 7% the week of June 16 - June 22 2008, and among Liberal/Moderate Republicans peaked at 21% the week of July 21 - July 27 2008.

Temperament

An alleged point of sharp contrast between Obama and his 2008 opponent John McCain was Obama's perceived calm, even temperament, which was praised by former presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd as well as numerous media sources as "cool" and "unflappable". Speaking in support of Obama in March 2008, retired Air Force General Tony McPeak referred to him as "no drama Obama" and "no shock Barack". These characterizations were picked up and continued to be used months later by other commentators such as Andrew Sullivan and Arianna Huffington.

Around the world

All 22 countries covered in a September 2008 BBC poll said they would prefer to see Senator Obama elected president ahead of Republican opponent John McCain. In 17 of the 22 nations, people expected relations between the United States and the rest of the world to improve if Senator Obama won. More than 22,000 people were questioned by pollster GlobeScan in countries ranging from Canada to India and across Africa, Europe and South America. The margin in favor of Senator Obama ranged from 9% in India to 82% in Kenya (location of Obama's paternal ancestry), while an average of 49% across the 22 countries preferred Senator Obama compared with 12% preferring Senator McCain. Some four in ten did not take a view.

A similar global poll was held by Reader's Digest, with respondents "overwhelmingly" in favor of Obama from all 17 countries, including Mexico, Finland, Sweden, Indonesia, Britain and Spain. Russia gave Obama the lowest score among the countries polled, but still preferred Obama over McCain with a 35% margin. An Australian poll conducted in August 2008 found that over 75% of Australians wanted Obama to win the presidential election, while only 10% showed support for McCain.

Similar results were found in New Zealand (65% in favor of Obama, 11% in favor of McCain), Japan (49% in favor of Obama, 13% in favor of McCain), France (65% in favor of Obama, 8% in favor of McCain), Italy (70% in favor of Obama, 15% in favor of McCain), Germany (67% in favor of Obama, 6% in favor of McCain) and the Netherlands (90% in favor of Obama, 6% in favor of McCain). The only country surveyed (other than the U.S.) where McCain's popularity rivaled Obama's was Jordan, where 22% were in favor of Obama and 23% in favor of McCain. Obama scored higher approval ratings in all 70 countries covered in an October 2008 Gallup poll, with the most favorable scores coming from Asian and European countries.

In 2007 German journalist Christoph von Marschall wrote a book entitled Barack Obama - Der schwarze Kennedy. The literal translation of its German title is "Barack Obama. The Black Kennedy". His book was a best seller in Germany, where other commentators had also compared the two Americans.

In addition to this, Obama has established close relationships with prominent foreign politicians and elected officials even before his presidential candidacy, notably with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whom he met in London in 2005, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who visited him in Washington in 2006 as France's Interior Minister, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who spoke with Obama by telephone from Washington D.C. in 2008 (while Obama was campaigning elsewhere), as well as with Italy's Democratic Party leader, and then Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, who was welcomed in Obama's Senate office in Washington in 2005 and later wrote the introduction to Obama's The Audacity of Hope Italian edition.

Depictions

The West Wing writer and producer Eli Attie based the character of Matt Santos (portrayed by Jimmy Smits) on Obama. At the time the politician was only a state senator. Obama later met Smits. Will Smith expressed interest in portraying Obama in a film, citing his physical resemblance – particularly their ears – to the President, something with which Obama concurred while discussing the possibility with Smith. A musical comedy about Obama's presidential campaign, Obama on My Mind, opened in London in 2009.

Obama became a popular subject for artists during his presidential campaign. Shepard Fairey designed posters captioned "Hope", and he was commonly depicted as a superhero. Alex Ross painted a portrait of Obama as Superman, tearing open his suit to reveal a shirt with an 'O'-symbol, while in Entertainment Weekly he was depicted as Spider-Man opposite John McCain's Batman. The association of Obama with Superman was picked up by the media and by the candidate himself: at the 2008 Al Smith Dinner, Obama joked, "Contrary to the rumors you have heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet Earth." And The Washington Post titled two essays about the impact of Obama's election by Desmond Tutu and Ta-Nehisi Coates "The Man of Tomorrow", referencing a frequent sobriquet of Superman.

Marvel Comics released a special Inauguration Day comic of The Amazing Spider-Man with a picture portraying Barack Obama with Spider-Man hanging upside down behind him snapping his picture, quipping, "Hey, if you get to be on my cover, can I be on the dollar bill?" The comic also featuring a brief story where the Chameleon attempts to pose as Obama in order to be sworn in in his place, Obama subsequently shaking Spider-Man's hand in thanks and admitting that he's always been a fan despite the wall-crawler's negative public image. For copyright reasons, Marvel subsequently denied depictions of Obama as acting president in the Marvel Universe were intended to be him.

Similarities were drawn between Obama and Harvey Dent in the 2008 film The Dark Knight, released during Obama's campaign. The character, portrayed by Aaron Eckhart, and his time as the "white knight" district attorney – who provides hope in a demoralized city, is given major focus. Boris Johnson compared Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) in Quantum of Solace to Obama; the African-American CIA ally of James Bond is promoted to become Section Chief in South America over the previous corrupt agent.

A character in the 2009 science fiction action film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen makes an explicit reference to "President Obama".

See also

• Barack Obama "Hope" poster
• "Barack the Magic Negro"
• "I Got a Crush... on Obama"
• "There's No One As Irish As Barack O'Bama"
• "Yes We Can"

References

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External links

• Time Magazine: "The Five Faces of Barack Obama"
• Family biography of Obama from The Washington Post
• Spaniards to Win Trademark Rights to 'Obama' Belfast Telegraph, April 23 2009
• Obama College Photos To Go On Display by Rachel Weiner, The Huffington Post, May 28 2009
• The Obama Haters’ Silent Enablers by Frank Rich, The New York Times, June 13 2009

• Barack Obama
• Public image of American politicians