The Huffington Post Reveals the Fading Glory of the Obama Brand

When someone mentions the word ‘brand’ to me, the first thing I think of is a scene from an old Western in which a tough cowhand wrestles a steer down and applies a hot iron to its hide, searing it permanently with the ranch’s insignia or brand.

Next I think of laundry detergents I’ve used over the years: Tide, Oxydol, Cheer, Ivory Snow, or maybe Arm and Hammer.

Having worked in Corporate America for a few years, I’ve learned the importance to a company of maintaining a well-known and respected brand for its products.

Notice I said products.

It’s only been recently that I’ve heard the word ‘brand’ used in reference to human beings. I cringed awhile back – and not just because I’m a Clinton supporter - when a friend remarked to me that the Clintons’ brand had suffered in the Democratic primary. How dehumanizing, I thought.

Much to my surprise when I checked in at the Huffington Post recently to see what the extreme left in the blogosphere was up to, the screaming banner headline in red was not about Hillary, Bill, or Lanny Davis. Nope. The headline shouted: Obama Undercuts His Brand, and there it was as big as life: a photo of his holiness with his mantra in the foreground, “Change You Can Believe In.”

Huffpo has since taken down the big red banner headline, but you can still Google the story (I don’t link there) and get the fun details of how Obama of the not so new politics has betrayed his netroots and if you have the time, you can peruse the 1,432+ readers’ comments. For now, though, here’s a sample of one lefty’s rationalization of Obama's determined march to the center. You’ll of course be surprised to discover that Rotwang is blaming HRC’s supporters. Here’s the comment in full:

Rotwang writes:

I'm not loving everything the Presumptive Nominee is doing lately, but I realize he has to run very hard to the right to compensate for the loss of the brooding/vindictive/victim/poor-me segment of HRC supporters, who were mostly Republicans to begin with.

In practice, he won't be able to stray too far from a center-left position, even if he runs away from the netroots who created him. The bottom line is that Mac is much, much worse. Actually, the bottom line is that all politicians are disappointing and the system is essentially broken, but hope is a tough addiction to break.

Just remember: If HRC were the nominee, she'd be be doing the same dance to win the GE,. There are no "pure" candidates, and no "heroes of the people." No one can win with their own worshipful base alone.

"No one can win with their own worshipful base alone?" Wow! What an epiphany that must have been for Rotwang.