Obama = Super Man?

Today I saw a news story about a new store and Web site where “official” inauguration collectibles are being sold. Is there always a store for official inauguration items? Am I the only person who didn’t know this? When we were visiting San Francisco, I saw t-shirts emblazoned with Obama’s face for sale in several different souvenir shops. And San Francisco is all the way across the country from his home state of Illinois and from Washington D.C. I even witnessed one man who had bought an Obama t-shirt with a replica of the TIME magazine cover on it – he walked out of the store, then took the shirt, spread it out wide with his hands in front of him to look at it and just smiled. He stood there for several seconds and I watched, taking it all in. And it made me smile too.

It’s an exciting time for us, likely with lots of change ahead. And we’re ready for it. All this build up, however, makes me wonder if we’re setting up Obama for failure. He has many, many challenges ahead, as all presidents do. Do we see him as sort of a Super Man? What happens if he’s not Super Man? From what I can tell, no president has been able to be completely effective – they face limitations we cannot even imagine.

I’m still reading Obama’s book, “Dreams of My Father.” It’s well written and is giving me some great insight into the personality of our next president – he’s very intelligent, has had some very diverse experiences and family is of utmost importance to him. Just from his writing, I can tell that he looks at things from all sides and makes calculated, educated decisions. And frankly, that’s enough for me. Our new president doesn’t need to Super Man.