Obama Is One of Us, America's Geeks Cheer

Barack Obama may be America’s first geek-in-chief—or at least that’s what Star Trek and comic book fans are hoping. The president-elect embraces technology, flashes “Live Long and Prosper” signs, and jokes about being from Krypton—all characteristics of his repressed inner geek. The title is more compliment than insult, and suggests “smart can be in,” a psychologist tells the AP.

Obama's pals acknowledge that he was studious in college, but also an athlete who did drugs and partied. Geek lobbyists say that’s precisely what makes him one of them, and not a nerd or dork—who lack the geek’s social graces. Another distinction is that Obama’s married, to a wife who—like most geeks’ spouses—dutifully rolls her eyes at Trekkie jokes. (More Barack Obama stories.)