[riri]

This is how he's applied himself in everything he has done, I'd wager. Everyone around him did the work and carried him, he just had to show up and be the clean, articulate black guy. That made the liberals around him feel good and the smarter among them used him as much as he was using them. He used them to skate through his entire facade of a life.

I believe he probably did buckle down a little in the last campaign. Simply because it was exciting and he was getting off on the crowds and massive accolades he was receiving. He doesn't have the capacity for it anymore, it's gotten old and like everything else in his life he feels entitled to it.

[Wyatt's Torch]

Agree except for the part about the last election. He didn’t even need to as a) McCain was an idiot and a terrible campaigner and b) the financial crisis/collapse swept him into power with the “change” wave.

You can really see this entitlement mentality when he is challenged. He HATES it. He thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room and has, as you mention, always been coddled and told how brilliant and wonderful he is. He simply cannot fathom that by merely gracing us with his presence that we can possibly disagree with him. It has to be racism.