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Has There Ever Been A More Popular Politician Worldwide Than Obama??

Has there ever been a more popular politician than Barack Obama worldwide?

I find his popularity absolutely extraordinary. I wouldn't really call myself a fan, but I do admire his seemingly huge popularity worldwide, however he gets it. I don't think there has ever been a more popular politician than him ever, I really don't.

The coverage the US election is getting in the UK with Sky News etc is staggering. It seems people are more interested in this election than they are with local elections here in the UK, or with any other elections in europe. China are arguably as big as a superpower as the US, they have elections shortly and its not getting anywhere near the coverage.

So I think a lot of it is to do with Obama and his personal popularity, am I right? The guy is clearly hugely media savy, more popular than Jesus sometimes the way people rave about him.

Like I say I'm not a fan but I don't recall Clinton, Gore or Kerry getting anywhere near the amount of good luck messages Obama is getting. I assume when he goes in 2016, the election hype wont be quite the same.

In addition he was the first person to get 10 million twitter followers, beating Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. :cool:

(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 1

Michaelj

President Bush and Tony Blair were pretty popular.

Reply 2

LETSJaM

Churchill was pretty popular in the USA post-1945

<3 x

FDR?

I'd say Nelson Mandela has had worldwide popularity since his release from prison etc. Although, my Dad remembers some right-wingers wearing 'Hang Mandela the Terrorist' badges back in the day, so his popularity is a relatively new thing, as opposed to Obama's fairly constant reputation.

Reply 5

pinklego

His popularity is something that concerns me. The guy is a politician. I find the idea of people worshipping politicians very creepy and it represents a further dumbing down of the demographic process.

People should always view their chosen candidate or party as the lesser of two evils. Never should politicians be elevated on pedestals . The nature of politics corrupts and makes liars out if even the most sincere politician -- as has been proven with Obama himself.

Reply 6

Snagprophet

It's hard to really say because we've only had the internet for 20 years. Many people beforehand, globally, wouldn't have known many foreign politicians so it's hard to really measure. But you can't deny Obama's pretty good at the smiling and waving thing.

Reply 7

g_star_raw_1989

Hitler was pretty popular in 1920s Germany.

There is a pretty creepy personality cult around Obama more akin to leaders of authoritarian regimes. Seems like people forget that he is just a public servant and not a saviour sent down from heaven.

Reply 8

Cephalus

Almost as popular as Mitt

Reply 9

Cannotbelieveit

Churchill surely?

He's almost a cult figure in the US.

Lincoln?

It's pathetic and let's be honest most of his support is because he is black, specifically the first black president I think you would struggle to find 1000 African Americans that don't support Obama but obviously it isn't just African Americans it's people who like to think that they are making a difference and pretend that Obama is some revolutionary figure who will stop those money grabbing bankers stealing the public's money and give it to the poor and will create world peace. The public don't pay attention to the policies he is putting forward, other than the major ones i.e Obama Care. I can bet 99.99% of the American public don't actually research into the party they are going to vote for or what they are suggesting. People like to pretend that the Democrats and Republicans are so different but in reality most of the policies they have are the same usually the Democrats candidate wouldn't receive so much support and as big of a persona but the fact Obama is black, you add in the fact he is a great public speaker and that he tries to appear "down with the kids" and you have a perfect storm.

Don't get me wrong i'm not saying Romney is better far from it, I would say Obama is the slightly lesser of two evils but people try to pretend Obama is somehow different to every other politician when in reality he is just another puppet who does what he is told. The American public like to think there is such thing as democracy but lets be honest people vote for who the media tells them too and the media seem to miss 95% of things out and unless you research into things yourself you will never find out about it because the majority of the public are simple minded idiots who care more about what the **** is going to happen in the next episode of EastEnders or The Only Way Is Essex.

People accuse the Americans of being thick and ignorant but it's the exact same in this country just today I heard on Radio 1 they went out and interviewed people in London and asked them who they were voting for in the American elections Obama or Romney and only 1 seemed to realise that they couldn't vote the rest all said they were voting for Obama, they were then told they had to vote by today and where they were going to vote; so one of them said they were going to go home and ask there parents to help them out with how to vote online, one asked where the nearest place they could vote was.

[video="youtube;b5p3OB6roAg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b5p3OB6roAg#![/video]

Once again just to reiterate I am in no way suggesting Romney is different or that most of his followers aren't also just as stupid and just as brainwashed.

Reply 12

mr-breaker

If he were American then yes.

swag off the charts

Reply 13

Eboracum

I'm English and am also a Politics student, I think he's a brilliant brilliant man. Whatever you think of his policies, it's his life story and his route to the White House, and also it's his image on the world stage. I think a lot of people in the UK wish we could have Obama instead of Cameron.

I think various Presidents: FDR, Kennedy, you could go back further, were very popular. But seeing them polls from all the different countries last week in favour of Obama was interesting.

But Obama if he does sneak home tonight, he'll know how close he came to losing the Presidency and will know he's got an awful lot of hard work to do in the next four years.

Reply 14

Londonburger

Obama became famous around the circle of my friends because of his speech in Chicago 4 year ago. Actually, as the president of the states, he can hardly not to be followed. But if we track back from the history, there are loads of politicians who are more famous than Obama, especially during the period of the ww2.

And I think his popularity still varies on different regions.

Reply 15

Shabalala

here's another example of the simple minded Obama supporters (once again not saying Romney supporters are better)

[video="youtube;Skw-0jv9kts"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skw-0jv9kts[/video]

Reply 16

g_star_raw_1989

Original post by Shabalala

here's another example of the simple minded Obama supporters (once again not saying Romney supporters are better)

[video="youtube;Skw-0jv9kts"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skw-0jv9kts[/video]

NDAA means Obama has an open door to destroy the nation although Romney said he would have signed it too.

Reply 17

Llewellyn_J

BILL CLINTON!!! What a playa!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 18

username33685

Err, Arnold Schwarzenegger anyone? So popular he managed to win the governorship of crazy liberal California standing as a Republican. Also there's the small international factor of his film career.

Reply 19

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Original post by rich2606

Err, Arnold Schwarzenegger anyone? So popular he managed to win the governorship of crazy liberal California standing as a Republican. Also there's the small international factor of his film career.