President Obama was nicknamed “Black Jesus” by his former senior campaign adviser David Axelrod, according to Edward Klein’s new book, The Amateur (p. 59).

The Obama painting above—entitled “The Truth” by Michael D’Antuono—was scheduled to go on view in New York’s Union Station on the president’s 100th day in office in 2009, but the artist cancelled the showing after receiving a barrage of angry e-mails.

President Obama has routinely assumed the personas of former U.S. presidents. In this photo, Obama is channeling an iconic image of John F. Kennedy known as “The Loneliest Job.”
Now the Obama White House has “amended” JFK’s online biography—and the bios of many other of the past century’s U.S. presidents—with a closing “Did You Know?” section in an attempt to link their respective accomplishments to those of President Obama.

The Forrest Gumping of Obama immediately inspired a new Twitter hashtag craze: #ObamaInHistory. Additional visual “evidence” of Obama’s role in key historical events is available at the website Obama In History.

Edward Klein’s new book about Barack Obama, The Amateur, takes its title from an alleged quote by former President Bill Clinton. Calling Obama an “amateur” is only one of many stunning claims offered in Klein’s unauthorized biography.

But Clinton’s criticism of his wife’s earlier presidential rival is minor compared to allegations made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright during a three-hour interview recorded with the author. Here are a few of the allegations made by Obama’s former pastor, mentor, and close friend:

• Wright was offered $150,000 by a close Obama associate in exchange for his refusal to preach until after the 2008 election.
• “Church is not their thing. It was never their thing,” Wright said of the First Couple. He agreed with Klein’s observation that “the church was an integral part of his politics…because he needed that base.”
• Camp Clinton was complicit in capitalizing on Wright’s fiery rhetoric and paying black pastors to openly attack Wright.
• Obama “was selected before he was elected” and is now “accountable to the ones who selected him and who paid for him to be the president.”

Sean Hannity has interviewed Klein on his Fox News show and posted audio clips of the Wright interview up on his website. And Glenn Beck has offered Wright $150,000 for the cardboard box in which he apparently keeps more of Obama’s secrets.

Newsweek visually punctuates Obama’s support for gay marriage by updating his ubiquitous 2008 halo. The increasingly sensational periodical merges the divine floatation device with the rainbow colors of gay solidarity. Andrew Sullivan attempts to make the case that ”Obama’s life as a biracial man has deep ties to the gay experience” in the accompanying article.

President Obama launched his first official reelection campaign event in a half-empty arena at Ohio State University—the largest college in the crucial swing state—on Saturday. Mitt Romney’s campaign spokesman Ryan Williams released a view from the floor on Twitter and commented: “Not the ‘overflow’ crowd he promised.” The photo may have felt like payback for an embarrassing Romney rally pic at Michigan’s Ford Field that Obama supporters drew attention to back in January. Not surprisingly, the official Obama campaign video (see below) never pans the empty seats.

“Obamamania” swept college campuses four years ago when Obama’s 2008 campaign juggernaut developed a sense of community for voters through participation in its rallies and social media outlets. Team Obama expected the same level of excitement the second time around at OSU and Virginia Commonwealth University, according to ABC News. Organizers for Obama 2.0 had been ”touting the level of volunteerism and voter registration on the campuses ahead of the events.” They also integrated social media into the rally experience “much as they did at Invesco Field in 2008, by broadcasting selected tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram images on the big screens to boost interactivity and participation.”

Obama’s launch rally numbers—14,000 at OSU and 8,000 at VCU—were weaker than his early campaigning in 2008 and nowhere near the last months when attendance hit the stratosphere, spiking at 100,000 in Missouri three weeks before the election. Skeptics question whether Team Obama can repeat the phenomenon and invigorate that same level of enthusiasm and participation in the crucial months ahead.”You have to admit that four years ago he was exciting,” observed one GOP operative. “But now people have seen him in action for years, they are disenchanted.”

“I told you in 2008 I wouldn’t be a perfect man,” Obama reminded the faithful this weekend, “and I wouldn’t be a perfect president.” Many supporters, though, had expected perfection of the then-messianic candidate—which may be why Obama beseeched the crowd, ”I still believe in you. And I’m asking you to keep believing in me.”

President Obama’s visit to Florida Atlantic University last week may have served as a preview of his reelection campaign’s coming attractions. The president hasn’t appeared particularly messianic battling the Supreme Court over Obamacare, faulting a Republican House for the poor economy, or blaming “Big Oil” for high gas prices. “An America Built To Last” and ”Fair Share” don’t sound quite as compelling as “Hope” and “Change.” And the sale on the “2012 Hoodie” seemed in bad taste.

But when Obama hit the road and rallied a college campus, it looked like deja vu all over again.

Impassioned seniors swooned for “The One” who would save their Medicare.

Some youth appeared infatuated by Obama’s promises to “Buffett” the millionaires.

True believers pleaded for ”Four More Years.”

And of course, the light shone down from above.

The sequel is looking a lot like the first movie. In a reelection year, it seems like some things never “Change.”

In his weekly address, President Obama reflected on the meaning of Easter and Passover. He said both holidays ”have their roots in miracles that took place thousands of years ago” and “remind us of the common thread of humanity that connects us all.” As a Christian, Obama said Easter is a time to “reflect and rejoice” and recommit oneself to following Christ’s example. “We rededicate our time on Earth to selflessness, and to loving our neighbors,” the president said. “We remind ourselves that no matter who we are or how much we achieve, we each stand humbled before an almighty God.”

The redemptive tone of Obama’s address sounds dissonant with statements he made earlier in the week. On Monday, Obama warned the Supreme Court that it would not only be “extraordinary” and “unprecedented” to overturn his healthcare law, but it would also be an act of “judicial activism.” The next day, the president called the House Republican budget a “Trojan horse,” “thinly veiled social Darwinism,” and “an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country.” Obama had already likened Republicans who disagreed with his energy policies to “charter members of the Flat Earth Society” two weeks ago, and now he claimed that their stated concerns about the deficit were “laughable.”  He even declared that the GOP leaders lacked “humility.”

The president’s sharply partisan rhetoric of recent days is the kind that he campaigned against in 2008. “Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long,” Obama submitted in his Grant Park victory speech.

Obama seemed to echo the kind of positive and inspiring rhetoric that characterized those heady and hopeful days this holiday weekend when he spoke of the Messiah and the miraculous. But that kind of lofty language now seems to be reserved for holy days. The conciliatory spirit of Obama’s weekend homily will probably be an anomaly. The president appears to be adopting a harsher, more rancorous tone this reelection year. We’ll most likely not hear Obama talk about ”the common thread of humanity” and “loving our neighbors” again until next Christmas.

The Obama campaign cancelled its discount sale of 2012 “Hoodies” on its reelection apparel site. The campaign came under criticism for appearing to exploit a racially charged situation in an appeal to black voters.

The unstated referent was obvious. The hoodie had become a shorthand symbol for standing in solidarity with slain teen Trayvon Martin and his family. “Million Hoodie” marches and rallies were organized nationwide from New York to Los Angeles. Congressman Bobby Rush even pulled up a hoodie over his head while giving a speech on the House floor yesterday. Before he was reprimanded, Rush declared: “Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum.” While the facts surrounding the shooting are still sketchy and George Zimmerman ought to be considered innocent until proven guilty, President Obama seemed to have chosen sides for political purposes.

Team Obama appears to be in the habit of capitalizing on controversial issues with campaign gear. The online store is selling a “Made in the USA” mug with Obama’s Hawaiian birth certificate and celebrating Joe Biden’s vulgarity with “Health Reform Still a BFD” t-shirts.

They’ve also been selling Obama 2012 yoga pants that are “great for running or sun salutations.” Perhaps the store could advertise that the pants will provide for “more flexibility”—just like the president reminded Russia he would have if he wins a second term.

Are Obama’s devoted followers feeling hope and change fatigue? President Barack Obama acknowledged that many of his supporters might be experiencing reelection exhaustion. “Remember what we said in the last campaign—real change, big change would be hard. It takes time. It may take more than a single term, it may take more than a single president,” Obama said while campaigning in Chicago. “It’s not as trendy to be involved in the Obama campaign as it was back then,” Obama said. “Some of you have rolled up those ‘Hope’ posters and they’re in a closet somewhere.”

Chris Matthews, who turned on his favorite president recently, appears to have turned back. “Romney can’t do what that guy just did,” Matthews said of GOP rival Rick Santorum while covering the Republican primaries in Arizona and Michigan. “That means on the stump he can’t turn people on. He can’t turn them on after he wins or after he loses.” Matthews opined that Romney “lacks this guy’s passion, and I think that’s a real loss.”

Matthews had unexpectedly excoriated Obama back in November. “What are we trying to do in this administration? Why does he want a second term? Would he tell us?” the MSNBC host complained. Now Matthews appears repentant, again measuring Obama by his former standard of success—the ability to thrill. “Barack Obama can do both. He has a brain, and he has a heart, and he can cause a thrill in the American people because he has both. He can have a vision, and he can have a passion to go with that vision. I don’t see it getting together for the Republicans here, and I think it’s a real challenge for them.”
 

More than three dozen of the guests at last night’s White House state dinner honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron were President Obama’s reelection campaign bundlers. The volunteer fundraising group included media moguls such as Harvey Weinstein and Microsoft corporate executives. The devoted group numbered 41 of the 364 expected attendees at the event. The bundlers are responsible for “at least $10.7 million of the roughly $250 million Obama and the Democrats have amassed for the election cycle so far,” according to ABC News.

Yet Team Obama continues to brand the Obama reelection campaign as an essentially grassroots movement. “If the idea of President Romney scares you,” wrote Obama campaign manager Jim Messina in a March 13 email missive, “then its time for you to own a piece of this campaign.” The total contributions for the online contribution funnel—”The Two Term Fund”—are now a little over $5 million. The regular devotees appear to have contributed less than half of what Obama’s big bundlers have collected. And their chances of being invited to “Dinner With Barack” don’t look as good either.