# Obama's is still a name to conjure by **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 30, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494 "2014-12-30T00:50:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494/41 "2015-01-05T23:44:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not aware of those implications… The reference is to magic spells, where supposedly reciting the name of a powerful being could add some of that being’s power to the spell. Which is, basically, what these advertisers are doing, minus the supernatural elements. I was thinking of the image of Obama as a witch doctor. Oo! Ee! Oo ah ah! Ting! Tang! Walla walla bing bang! Oo! Ee! Oo ah ah! Ting tang walla walla bing bang! You were keepin’ love from me just like you was a miser . . . ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494/42 "2015-01-05T23:51:04Z")
Eh, I don’t know about that. A drawing of Obama with a bone in his nose, sure, that has unpleasant implications. But Obama as a spellcaster, well, every continent and every culture has had spellcasters (or at least claimants of such), so I don’t think the image necessarily connects to witch doctors. Especially since, in the analogy, it isn’t even Obama himself casting the spells. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494/43 "2015-01-06T07:31:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Eh, I don’t know about that. A drawing of Obama with a bone in his nose, sure, that has unpleasant implications. But Obama as a spellcaster, well, every continent and every culture has had spellcasters (or at least claimants of such), so I don’t think the image necessarily connects to witch doctors. Especially since, in the analogy, it isn’t even Obama himself casting the spells. Heh-heh . . . heh-heh . . . He said “analogy” . . . ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494/44 "2015-01-11T20:34:17Z")
> [@rock\_party](#): > > R or D, everyone with a mortgage would like it somehow lowered. There was some blabber a few years ago that Obama could (would? wanted to?) do just that. So an ad implying Obama could lower your mortgage just seems believable. I’ve never clicked on the ad but I’ll bet it’s something like, “IF you do this and IF you qualify for that and If your current mortgage is such and such,and IF you sign up with us, we’ll charge you and look for you another mortgage.” This is the correct answer. From the beginning of his term, especially with the stimulus, Obama has been connected with government handout programs. If I want to make someone thing that they are the beneficiary of a government program, which politician’s name would I put on it? The “Ted Cruz wants to help you with your home mortgage” campaign probably wouldn’t turn out so well. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494/45 "2015-01-11T20:51:16Z")
I think you’re reading those ads wrong. One perception that the public has fueled by republican fearmongering is “Obama is giving away everything!” [to those people you don’t want to have anything] The ads are bullshit. They’re like “Obama waives mortgages!” and other nonsense. They’re clickbait. They’re trying to prey on the idea that Obama is single-handedly rewriting laws like a dictator and giving people free shit. They’re exploitative. They aren’t appealing to people’s positive feelings of Obama so much as the idea that Obama’s wild and crazy rule means these implausible scams might be true. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494/46 "2015-01-11T22:10:55Z")
Oh, I’m quite aware that the ads are exploitative clickbait. My point was just that they’re using Obama to bait their clicks, and that they therefore must think there’s some reason he’ll make for good bait. You might have a point, though, that a politician’s bait-worthiness might not correlate with their popularity. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494/47 "2015-01-12T04:00:40Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I think you’re reading those ads wrong. One perception that the public has fueled by republican fearmongering is “Obama is giving away everything!” [to those people you don’t want to have anything] > > The ads are bullshit. They’re like “Obama waives mortgages!” and other nonsense. They’re clickbait. They’re trying to prey on the idea that Obama is single-handedly rewriting laws like a dictator and giving people free shit. They’re exploitative. They aren’t appealing to people’s positive feelings of Obama so much as the idea that Obama’s wild and crazy rule means these implausible scams might be true. I agree that they are exploitative clickbait meant to prey on the vulnerable. So, if you are going to try and trick someone into signing up for your scam refinance of your house or your student loans, who is the politician that would immediately come to mind as a person proposing a new government program to implement that? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494/48 "2015-01-12T04:06:07Z")
Not because of anything he’s actually done, but because the Republican lies about him are all about how he’s wasteful and jacking up spending and giving free shit to people other than you! Realistically, what other politician are they going to put in there? People overestimates the power the president has. What is the ad going to say, “Mitch McConnell waives mortgages!”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-is-still-a-name-to-conjure-by/708494.md?page=2)