America’s search for a messiah with X-factor
Enfeebled by a sclerotic economy and vexed by self doubt America is marching grim-faced towards another election.
What the voters are looking for is not a president but a savior, a messiah, a necromancer in chief who can slay their dragons.
They thought three years ago that Barack Obama was “the one”, as Oprah hailed him unhelpfully. He has turned out to be just “another one”, undermined by many things including impossibly high expectations.His base feels let down. Republicans are angry, muttering “we told you so”.
But as the President might say to his critics on the left and the right: “you’re projecting.” His failure reflects their own failure to reboot America Inc.
This country doesn’t do mediocrity well. It is troubled by its own shortcomings, which is perhaps what happens when you keep telling yourself you’re a winner even though the evidence would suggest something less glittering.
Uncle Sam is coming off a sugar high and dealing with the inevitable sugar low.
Unhelpfully from across the Atlantic, Europeans, drowning in their own self pity are bleating: “been there, done that.”
Europe has long given up waiting for saviors. Two world wars, utopian spasms, umpteen coalition governments and a population marinated in centuries of cynicism will do that to you.
Despite the recent experience America is still looking for “the one.” That explains the Republicans’ feverish quest for the right candidate.
Like a kid let loose in an ice-cream parlour they have been licking their way through the whole gamut of flavours: lime zest with a hint of almond crunch Sarah Palin, tabasco truffle Rick Perry, plain old vanilla semolina Mitt Romney. (feel to make up your own flavours).
Like an array of Ben and Jerry ice creams that are still in the wacky development stage these candidates – there are eight of them – all have their qualities and yet they are all dogged by imperfections. None of them taste quite right.
Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey bowed out of the race for the White House on Tuesday before he, too, could be rejected by the picky palates of the Republican Party.
The debate had already started about whether he was too fat to run (Christie triple fudge Sundae?). I suspect most Americans don’t really care.
Those who have criticized his body mass index have been called “girthers”, rhyming with the “birthers” who once questioned Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
Even though everyone from Nancy Reagan to Henry Kissinger was begging Christie to enter the race he decided to stick to his “no” and resist the lure of flattery. That in itself is quite an achievement.
So we are back with plain old Mitt Romney, desperate to be gobbled up but still eminently resistible. The former boss of Bain Venture Capital is a trim technocrat.
He looks and sounds like a surgeon. His bedside manner is creepy when he tries to be warm and fuzzy. But you trust Mitt with a scalpel.
With him as their candidate the election will no doubt be duller. We, the hacks, will be disappointed. The Tea Party will be incensed. But a surgeon rather than a savior may be just the ticket. The Republicans could win this next election if they only realized that.
Follow Matt Frei on Twitter: @mattfrei