Flip-flops in a Historic Moment

It all actually started the night of the election. Instead of weeping copiously like his supporters, John McCain stepped into the national limelight to announce that they had taken part in an historic election. The boos and catcalls with which the crowd reacted when he mentioned his opponent by name were silenced by his steely glance. His party colleagues have also since adopted a virtuous 180-degree turnaround. Well, admittedly there are exceptions. Ultra-conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh doesn’t hesitate to spew out his daily dose of poison. And Bill O’Reilly, Limbaugh’s spiritual colleague at Fox News, assures his audience, “Our focus now is to report exactly what President-elect Obama is doing and what it means to you. Let’s be honest. The guy is still a mystery, so our oversight will be intense.”

Hollywood delivered no surprises. Will Smith visited the Oprah show and cried out half in ecstasy and half in desperation, “Oprah, I’m an action hero. I can’t be crying on your show!” Whereupon he admitted he had done exactly that on election night and then proceeded, Hollywood-style, to reenact his reaction to Obama’s election on the studio floor. Did Arnold Schwarzenegger watch Obama’s victory speech? The Republican Governor of California who, because of his party affiliation, had to drum up support for McCain, jokingly said that his wife, arch-Democrat Maria Shriver, had finally let him back into their bedroom.

Palin is Hardly Recognizable Now

What Obama’s die-hard political opponents now say about the candidate they didn’t want is practically over the top when it comes to civility and bubbly politeness. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in contrast a bit more reserved. In a C-Span interview in which she said her boss, George W. Bush, thinks of himself as a “dissident President,” she went on to praise his successor by saying that skin color was no longer a factor in American life and national identity. We hope that proves to be right.

The incomparable Sarah Palin is now hardly recognizable. She who once accused Obama of being in cahoots with terrorists, was apparently so overcome by the historic event the she cried out, “God bless Barack Obama and his wonderful family!” Michelle Bachmann, a Republican representative from Minnesota, also underwent another near-Biblical conversion. She no longer accuses Obama of un-American activities; now she’s extremely thankful that an African-American has finally been elected president because that sends a tremendous signal to the rest of the world. And let’s not forget Joe Lieberman! The disloyal Democrat who supported John McCain and accused Obama of not always putting America first like McCain, is now ecstatic over Obama’s “historic and impressive victory.” Lieberman now says Obama is a true patriot and loves his country. And yes, even George W. Bush wants to take some pleasure from the election before Obama succeeds him, saying the turnover of the White House “will be a stirring sight.”

A Highly Irregular Situation

They all might be so befuddled that they don’t know what else to do other than ask the advice of those indispensable presidential historians, who are also given to employing some pretty tricky language to describe (usually larded with historical examples) developments within the Oval Office. The historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, usually never at a loss for explanations, popped up in the columns of the New York “Times” to confirm that the situation was highly irregular. The turncoats, according to her, may hesitate to be caught on the wrong side of history after admitting that Obama’s success has great historical implications for the nation and the world.

These implications are also having an effect, last but not least, in marketing the election and its aftermath. It’s one of the few bright spots in an otherwise recession-endangered America. T-shirts and coffee mugs documenting the election results won’t be the only seasonal hits. A flood of books about Obama and his unparalleled triumph are coming from journalists who accompanied him on his journey to the White House, and television networks will be looking for scripts that translate the events into TV docudramas. The marketing of this election, according to the industry magazine “Publisher’s Weekly,” will be the biggest thing since Harry Potter.

No one wants to predict how long things will stay this way. One false step by the new president and the euphoria could disappear; new friends could change back into old enemies overnight. But as long as Obama’s popularity remains high, Harry Potter has to count on a lot of stiff competition.