Ajami: "Obama and the Politics of the Crowd"

Fouad Ajami's "Obama and the Politics of the Crowd" just might be the best essay written this entire election season. I urge you to read it. The only facet of Mr. Ajami's gem I find to be less luminiscent than the rest is his claim that the sheer size of the crowds gathered to see Barack Obama are "a measure of American distress." What Mr. Ajami forgets is how many of these crowds throughout the campaign were drawn by means other than a promise of a simple cameo appearance by their favorite political celebrity. Folks were also drawn in by the brand names associated with the campaigns, you know, the Oprahs and the rock stars that showed up to stir up the masses. Simply spread the rumor that a rock band is going to play a free set in the park of your choice, and you will quickly draw a large and excited crowd.

The Obama campaign has been utterly deft in creating spectacle; this idea of a crowd is the lifeblood of a campaign commited to promoting a demographics of desperation. You've heard the argument before; it has been essentially offered here in the comments thread: So many people giving time and money proves how desperate Americans have become. Of course such actions prove no such thing.

What do crowds do? In part, they serve as reinforcement: "Since so many people fervently believe this it must be true!" Religious people understand implicitly the power of the crowd; think of the reinforcement of Catholic ideals one experiences during Mass in St. Peter's Square. But an Obama crowd is also used as a sort of tableaux of evocation, of emotion and passion. The idea is to create scenes filled with feeling (a certain way). And it's about identity and membership.

But Mr. Ajami's analysis is otherwise astute, and his conclusions are, at least to me, disturbing.

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