Obama’s organization is built around a faulty, occasionally absurd meta-narrative. A meta-narrative is just a campaign’s central message, the core claim that connects all of the campaign’s assertions. It communicates the candidate’s diagnosis of the country and his prescription for the future. Bill Clinton had a great one in 1992: generational change can invigorate a tired government and grow a sagging economy. Clinton’s outfit consistently reinforced this narrative. From the campaign theme, to the selection of Al Gore as running mate, to “It’s the economy, stupid” – it made sure people knew his core claim. Obama’s narrative should be similar to Clinton’s. It’s tailor-made for a year like this and a man like Obama. But that is not the Obama campaign’s message. Its message seems to be: this great man will unify a divided America around himself… Early in his candidacy, Obama’s narrative was very different. He was a candidate mobilizing the public in a social movement for the sake of the common good. This was a good message – but because of his campaign’s grandiose rhetoric and imagery, it has been displaced. Obama no longer seems like the humble mobilizer, working to unite people around the common good. Instead, he often seems like the goal of the mobilization itself.