Don't kid yourself into thinking that the enthusiasm of Obama supporters can be dismissed as being a "personality cult"

Music. Rhythm and repetition. Striking visual images, especially of people and their faces. I can't imagine that the ancient Greek and Roman politicians two millennia ago failed to make good use of these in connection with their elections (or, failing that, their rabble-rousing) because they can inspire extremely powerful reactions.

I've watched this recruiting commercial for the U.S. Marines maybe 10 times. It's terrific. It quite literally brings a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye.

I've watched this campaign music video only about three times. But it's also terrific, albeit in a pretty different way. It also quite literally brings a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye.

James Taranto, in his Wall Street Journal "Best of the Web" column today, called the second video "creepy" and describes it as depicting

people who appear to be in some sort of trance as they mouth along with Obama's various rhetorical flourishes from his speeches, then repeat the mantra "Yes, we can." The whole thing has the feel of a cult of personality.

He quotes Democrat and self-described Obama voter Kathleen Geier from a TPM Cafe essay warning that "this sounds more like a cult than a political campaign," and warning that "he's not Jesus! [Obama]'s not going to magically enable us to transcend the bitter partisanship that is tearing this country apart."

They're both overstating their cases, and missing the point — and in Taranto's case, it's almost pure wishful thinking. There are a whole, whole lot of Americans who can react positively, emotionally, and patriotically to both of these videos.

"Oh my," some of you may be saying, "Beldar's gone around the bend and become an Obama supporter." Never fear that, gentle readers. Barack Obama will never have my vote, my endorsement, or my support, and if he's the Democratic Party's nominee, I will do my very best to ensure that he's not elected.

But I would be a poor excuse for a pundit, for a blogger who opines on matters political, if I could not watch that music video and recognize its artistry — or if I could not watch the Obama campaign and recognize that candidate's power to inspire hope among the discontented, the disaffected, and even just those who feel guilty that they aren't feeling more discontented and disaffected (like, I suspect, most of the Hollywood actors and music stars who actually appear on Obama's video).

Taranto's badly mistaken to mock or write off this video, or the enthusiasm for the Obama campaign of which it's representative, as "creepy" or a "personality cult." The plain and simple fact is that Obama's youth and charisma and passion, arriving on the American political scene when he has, are going to be powerfully attractive to far more than those at risk of infection by mere "cults." He's going to swell a lot of hearts on the campaign trail. If he becomes the Democratic nominee, Republicans are going to have to be prepared to combat that.They'll have to do so in two distinct ways, though.

First, they'll have to match Team Obama's artistic power. John McCain hasn't given the speech yet that can be put to music in this particular way. But that Marine commercial is a fine example of how powerful emotional chords can be crafted and plucked for patriotic themes, and unlike the limp-saluting pretend-hero John Kerry, McCain's history furnishes good material for use in this way. Those of you of a certain age will remember Reagan's "Morning in America" commercials. There's a tone that was in them, a hopeful and forward-looking tone, that the McCain campaign needs to reach for, not just in their paid advertisements but in all of their campaigning. If the public's sole take-away image of McCain is that of the smart-aleck, grumpy, spiteful old man that he sometimes reveals in public, then overcoming the emotional power of the Obama campaign will be extraordinarily difficult. And the bad news is that so far this campaign season, the most passion McCain has aroused has been from movement conservatives who've opposed him for the GOP nomination.

But while Team McCain can't ignore the electorate's hearts, it absolutely must engage the electorate's minds as well. It's got to engage the grown-up voter who can wipe a tear from his eye after watching that Obama music video, but who will then say, "Damn, that was powerful good stuff. It's too bad, with all that charisma, that Obama is a naive child on foreign policy and the most liberal big-government tax-and-spend Democrat in the Senate on domestic policy."

To win, we have to get votes from people who find Obama likable and inspiring, but who can also feel patriotic and justified in supporting a candidate who has more steak despite having less sizzle.