# "The One" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 19, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566 "2011-07-19T12:21:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/21 "2011-07-19T15:42:23Z")
Conservatives secretly want to hook up with Obama in an airport restroom. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/22 "2011-07-19T15:47:46Z")
There were some people (including some on this board) who had a messianic feeling for Obama (and may still have). However most people who supported Obama did so for rational reasons and with full awareness he was a fallible human being. The reason Obama’s opponents like to talk about “The One” is because it’s a useful fiction for denying there are real reasons to support Obama. They just claim that anyone who votes for him is irrationally subject to his charisma and that they, the rational ones, see through it to the truth. In some cases, this is just people saying what they’re got to say - they have to come up with some explanation for Obama’s popularity that doesn’t concede there’s a basis for it. And in other cases, it’s reflective of the people making the claim - they vote for irrational reasons so they assume everyone else does as well. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/23 "2011-07-19T15:52:06Z")
You know which Presidential candidate’s campaign organization repeatedly claimed he was “the one”? **Richard Nixon.** No, really! **"Nixon’s the One"** was his offical campaign slogan back in 1968. We Youth for Nixon volunteers (yes, ‘we,’ I was in the Youth for Nixon back in the day) were even given this song to sing: _Nixon’s the one, Nixon’s the one, Nixon’s the one for me. We believe in Nixon, N-I-X-O-N, Nixon’s the one for me._ So there you have it: in Presidential politics, “The One” was the GOP’s own future felon, Tricky Dick. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/24 "2011-07-19T16:03:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There were some people (including some on this board) who had a messianic feeling for Obama (and may still have). > (snipped) For me, it was pretty much that. I bit of good-natured mockery, nothing more complex. I dropped it a long time ago. …and of course that he is the muslim-Kenyan-commie antichrist. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/25 "2011-07-19T16:08:46Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > You know which Presidential candidate’s campaign organization repeatedly claimed he was “the one”? That’s nothing compared to a Democratic congressman who wrote and sang [“Still the One.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hall_%28U.S._politician%29) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/26 "2011-07-19T17:16:13Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > That’s nothing compared to a Democratic congressman who wrote and sang [“Still the One.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hall_%28U.S._politician%29) > > 😉 I used to live in NY’s 19th district. Then I moved to NY’s 26th district. For some reason my congressmen can’t keep their shirts on. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/27 "2011-07-19T20:29:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I used to live in NY’s 19th district. Then I moved to NY’s 26th district. For some reason my congressmen can’t keep their shirts on. Seems to be a general problem with New York congressmen, innit? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/28 "2011-07-19T20:40:45Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Seems to be a general problem with New York congressmen, innit? Fortunately the ones in really terrible shape know to keep their shirts on. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/29 "2011-07-19T21:13:29Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Fortunately the ones in really terrible shape know to keep their shirts on. The horror The horror ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/30 "2011-07-19T21:16:06Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The horror > > The horror Leave poor Congressman Nadler alone. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/31 "2011-07-19T23:23:52Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > The one I felt was most worthy of ridicule was Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s video where they and other celebrities pledged to “…be a servant to our president and all mankind.” > > That’s just creepy, and indeed there was a bit share of criticism across the spectrum about this. Jesus. If I had known about that I might not have voted for Obama. Yes, we Dems really are that cranky and self-destructive, but just LOOK at it. \ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/32 "2011-07-20T00:29:39Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > The one I felt was most worthy of ridicule was Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s video where they and other celebrities pledged to “…be a servant to our president and all mankind.” > > That’s just creepy, and indeed there was a bit share of criticism across the spectrum about this. I think Kutcher was just setting up Kal Penn. “Well, Obama was elected and I did like we promised. I’ve signed up to serve in the Obama administration.” “We were just messing with you, dude. Demi and I aren’t giving up our sweet jobs in Hollywood.” “What? But I quit my job on House.” “Seriously? You quit a job in a top-rating television series to be an associate director of public engagement?” “Oh God, what have I done? They killed my character…” “You just got punk’d!” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/33 "2011-07-20T00:41:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There were some people (including some on this board) who had a messianic feeling for Obama (and may still have). Sure were, and the OP knows it too. :dubious: We were even treated to a post stating a desire to fellate him. And, of course, we had the flip side of that messianism - excoriation of anyone who suggested that he might not be the strongest candidate or the most effective and progressive President from among the Democratic candidates. And I’m sure the OP remembers \*that \*part, too. > [@](#): > > The reason Obama’s opponents like to talk about “The One” is because it’s a useful fiction for denying there are real reasons to support Obama. Or to point out that embracing a cult of personality, a phenomenon which as you just pointed out does exist, is not acting as responsibly as a citizen must. That problem does exist for progressives as well as for regressives. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/34 "2011-07-20T00:59:11Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Sure were, and the OP knows it too. . Oh, give it up, man. She lost fair and square. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/35 "2011-07-20T01:17:30Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Or to point out that embracing a cult of personality, a phenomenon which as you just pointed out does exist, is not acting as responsibly as a citizen must. That problem does exist for progressives as well as for regressives. I said it was true for some people. But it certainly was not the reason why most of the people who voted for Obama did so. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/36 "2011-07-20T02:01:45Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Oh, give it up, man. She lost fair and square. When did I ever say she didn’t? :dubious: Thanks, btw, for providing a fine example of the very problem we’re discussing - that of ascribing the motives of anyone who thinks another candidate might be better to being simply mindless emotionalism. As well as, of course, for pointing out that you do, in fact, remember, despite your assertion of innocence in the OP. :dubious: > [@Little Nemo](#): > > I said it was true for some people. You did state it in a blanketish sort of way, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/37 "2011-07-20T03:38:06Z")
You’d think the R team would give up on that meme, after it lost them a battle of wits against Paris Hilton. 😕 [http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d/paris-hilton-responds-to-mccain-ad-from-paris-hilton-adam-ghost-panther-mckay-and-chris-henchy](http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d/paris-hilton-responds-to-mccain-ad-from-paris-hilton-adam-ghost-panther-mckay-and-chris-henchy) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/38 "2011-07-20T18:10:21Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > You’d think the R team would give up on that meme, after it lost them a battle of wits against Paris Hilton. 😕 > > [http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d/paris-hilton-responds-to-mccain-ad-from-paris-hilton-adam-ghost-panther-mckay-and-chris-henchy](http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d/paris-hilton-responds-to-mccain-ad-from-paris-hilton-adam-ghost-panther-mckay-and-chris-henchy) A group that lost a battle of wits with Paris Hilton should commit mass suicide, as a favor to the continued evolution of the human race. Oh, that’s right - those clowns don’t believe in evolution. Never mind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/39 "2011-07-20T21:09:49Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Here’s a meme that’s interesting to me, because it seems so odd. I don’t know a single Democrat who ever subscribed to Obama-worship … [Really?](http://jimgetzen.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Obama_messiah.jpg) [You can’t recall any instances of people speaking of Obama like a god-like figure?](http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2009/06/05/newsweek-s-evan-thomas-obama-sort-god?utm_campaign=grims&utm_content=bookmarklet-twitter&utm_medium=gri.ms-twitter&utm_source=direct-gri.ms) [Or media depictions of him as such?](http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/wp-content/gallery/obama-satire/obama-lord-shiva.jpg) [You can’t think of any embarassingly obsequious news coverage?](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/13/chris-matthews-i-felt-thi_n_86449.html) [You wouldn’t find this a subject of mockery were people teaching children to sing songs about George Bush?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI-BCbKuJGA) Not sure I can help, then. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566/40 "2011-07-20T21:37:34Z")
None of that counts. Because it’s different. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one/589566.md?page=3)