Remembering the Power of Cool

By Dov Fischer

Sometimes the best explanation to a complex question is the simplest explanation. In the face of conservative hand-wringing, investigating what went wrong, and worrying whether another conservative ever again will be elected president in our lifetimes, it may very well be that the anomaly of Obama being re-elected, despite all his shortcomings and the colossal failure of his policies through four years, comes down to a simple outlier fact that pundits universally have ignored: Obama is cool. So many of us solid conservatives despise so many aspects of Obama's first-term agenda -- having aimed singularly to get re-elected, he does not appear to have a second-term agenda -- that we cannot see him as "cool," but as despicable. His use of profanities. The arrogance. The in-your-face style of confronting political adversaries. The brazen covering up of scandal. The tunnel-visioned focus on being seen mingling with Hollywood celebrities and music personalities, the kitschy appearances on late-night or women's morning talk shows rather than meeting with world leaders. There is so much.... (Read Full Article)