Enjoying: the new will.i.am/Obama video - but also raising an eyebrow

I really enjoyed the first will.i.am tribute song/video/project/whatever about Barack Obama (previously mentioned here) and I'm still finding the man (and the accompanying buzz) enthralling. I've been listening to the audio book version of his book of political views and that's impressed me greatly as well.

So for some reason I'm finding it a little odd that I have a faint nagging twinge about the latest video that will.i.am has put out as part of the campaign.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it still carries a lot of the inspiration and the hope (and it's for Barack man) - it just feels a little too slick, a little too polished and it also sparks a feeling that this is all veering a little close to the cultish for my tastes.



I guess I hope that this whole surge doesn't peak too early and hit some kind of overexposed backlash. The O-ba-ma chanting in the video just doesn't quite sit right either - what would be great would be if Barack came out and played it all down a little, made the point that he's not this guru figure but just a guy with some good ideas.

But given the way the media works and the need to keep the momentum going, I guess that might not be the best strategy.

I definitely got a sense though that the conservative/redneck/Republicans are genuinely scared of the man though from the range of rather offensive comments on the YouTube video digging deep into the staples of fear and misdirection that are the flip side of the Obama approach. (Which fortunately, I think the majority of people are well and truly sick of)

And by the way, if you're taking on board the arguments that the Obama campaign is all flash and no substance, all words and no plans, there is a great analysis/comparison of the Obama/Clinton voting records and legistation supporting/drafting up here on Daily Kos.