Will They Still Love Him When He's Prez?

Trusting activists may be weapons for President Obama, or betrayed by him
By Gabriel Winant,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 26, 2008 4:58 PM CDT
Will They Still Love Him When He's Prez?
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, shakes hands with supporters at a rally in Albuquerque, N.M., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

What will happen to Barack Obama’s fan base if he wins? The devoted followers, who wield unusual power in the campaign and feel close to their candidate, won’t vanish after November and could be a powerful weapon for his agenda, Howard Fineman writes in Newsweek. But if Obama governs more conservatively than they like, they may turn their power against him.

“His supporters have sky-high expectations and expect to be involved,” one analyst said. But a President Obama who wages more war in Afghanistan or disses Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could upset the faithful. "At that point, the names on those voter and e-mail lists may start talking to each other," Fineman writes. "That's when we'll know how 'trusting' an organization it really is."
(More Election 2008 stories.)

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