An echosphere is a bubble of like-minded people who share thoughts and ideas that bounce around the bubble reinforcing each other and resistant to, or excluding, information and ideas to the contrary. The result is a largely unexamined set of beliefs shared by the inhabitants of the echosphere, beliefs at a variance with those outside the echosphere. The existence of an echosphere says nothing about the truth or falseness, wisdom or foolishness, of the beliefs. But like any conventional wisdom, they bear examining.
The current Bush so-called administration is one example of an echosphere. It’s remarkable–breathtakingly staggering actually–just how much that echosphere manages to get wrong. But the echosphere that I’m interested in probing is that of Obama supporters, with an eye to getting analyzing on the 2008 presidential campaign from here on out.
Disclosure: I’m a Hillary supporter who will be voting for Obama less than enthusiastically. For all the sound and fury of the primary campaign, the two are reasonably close on the issues and on that basis I could live with either. But I don’t think Obama has the experience to be president. And I don’t buy the central premises of Obama being able to transform Washington, the push for “unity” without having a body politic that is in agreement about goals, methods or philosophy, that his “New Politics” are different from the “Old Politics.” I’ve listened to Obama many times, wanting to find something I could get a handle on if he got the nomination, and I’ve never found it. I don’t like the American Idol-style “rock star” phenomenon in which his campaign resembles nothing so much as a religious movement. I’m not inspired by Obama; I find listening to Obama almost as painful as listening to Bush. But after eight years of a Republican I can’t stand in the White House, a Democrat I don’t like is a big step forward.
My next post will be: “Is the glass 7/8 full or 1/2 empty for Obama?” By any number of metrics, this should be a great year for Democrats. And indeed, I think the Democrats will pick up 5-7 seats in the Senate and 10-15 seats net in the House. But there are a number of worrisome signs that the Obama echosphere seems disinclined to contemplate. I’ll start with some in the next post.
–Inigo Montoya
Tags: 2008 Presidential campaign, demographics, elections, McCain, Obama
June 11, 2008 at 2:49 am
This is DCDemocrat, aka Beltway Dem, aka Mike Meyer. Thanks for letting me know about your blog. One sign have been looking for this week is how much of a bounce Obama will get in the polls as the result of cinching the nomination. My thought has been that it would have been a lot more comfortable if we had a double digit bounce. It doesn’t appear to have happened in the week after South Dakota and Montana. I will give it till next Saturday, because that will be a week after Hillary’s endorsement. It appears at the moment to be about five to seven points. I am a yellow dog not a true blue Obama supporter, and as a yellow dog, I really hope the bounce goes to 10 or more points.
June 11, 2008 at 11:14 am
Hey! Thanks for emailing me. Right now, my enthusiasm for this election lies largely in my desire to defeat McCain. Hillary’s candidacy meant a great deal to me, and while I’m making a strong effort to become fully engaged in Obama’s campaign, my heart isn’t in it yet. I hope that will come in time. I’ve already done most of my grieving over Hillary’s loss. I heard one Clinton supporter saying recently that it was “just a campaign” and that there’s no reason to grieve, but for me, there was. I suppose I was too emotionally invested. I thought I was finished feeling sick and mournful after seeing her concession speech, but part of me isn’t over it yet. I watched a YouTube video a couple of days ago, and it was really beautiful — pictures of Hillary at rallies, cheering supporters, and a sad song playing in the background. I got pretty upset while watching it.
I don’t think Obama is a bad candidate — I just thought Hillary was so much better. I’ve even begun to like him on a personal level. I think he’ll win. But he isn’t Hillary, and I still complain about his healthcare plan. The only “new politics” I see is his commitment to the 50-State Strategy, and that IS important. He’s a great fundraiser, too. But he obviously knows how to play dirty when he needs to, so the idea that he’s stepping away from “old politics” is slightly… well, to put it politely, I don’t think it’s entirely accurate. And no one can fix the corruption in Washington in 4-8 years. It’s too deeply ingrained.