Obama As Elvis

... speaking of Elvis, it is a common place now that Elvis was succesful, in part at least, because he was a white man who could sing black rhythm and blues. So he could catch the vitality of the popular black music in an acceptable and presentable white fascade that could be consumed in the white mass-culture. (I'm over-simplifying, of course, but that is the main idea, and I think there is something to it.)

So - what does this have to do with Obama?

Well, Obama is intelligent, succesful (Harvard Law School, etc.) and articulate in the white world -- he has a white mother, was raised, largely, in a white middle-class mileau. So, with his intelligence, personable demeanour, and being well spoken and thoughtful, he is attractive in his own right and in a "white" sense as a candidate for public office, just like Elvis was a good singer in a "black" sense.

The fact that Obama is "black" is, on top off all that, a positive aspect in that it provided him with a base within the Democratic party (and the help of Oprah, etc.) and, to some degree, with a motivated voting base in the general election. So, like Elvis, largely by accident, he has combined two things and become a phenomena.

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