Some people really like the presidency and, more specifically, the politicians who seek to inhabit it. It has "transcended the boundary of enthusiasm and become a volatile strain of zealotry," wrote The Guardian. Perhaps it's a "cult" or even a "church." A church needs a Messiah, after all, so some treat him as if he is "the One."
But that was then and this is now. Then-candidate Barack Obama and his supporters attracted sustained criticism during the 2008 campaign over the perception that people were worshiping the future president as an icon. Though not yet eligible to vote, that was the first election I was old enough to engage with in a meaningful way, and I was repelled by that very phenomenon. I still vividly remember walking into my local Urban Outfitters, a true high school destination, and seeing shirts with Obama's face plastered on them. Why would anyone want to wear a politician—a government employee—as a fashion statement?
