If you were paying attention to American politics in 2008, you couldn’t escape from the viral Obama “hope” poster created by Shepard Fairey. His simple image became a symbol of the junior senator’s presidential campaign and was proudly displayed by Obama supporters on Facebook.
Unfortunately for Fairey, his love of Obama was doomed to wither on the vine.
Adam B. Lerner of Politico:
‘Hope’ poster artist Shepard Fairey says Obama let him down
Shepard Fairey, the street artist behind the famous “Hope” poster that went viral during Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential run, said that the president has not lived up to his expectations.
In an interview with Esquire, Fairey acknowledged that “Obama has had a really tough time” but said he’s “not even close” to having lived up to the “Hope” poster created for him.
“I mean, drones and domestic spying are the last things I would have thought [he’d support],” Fairey added in the interview, posted Thursday.
He tempered his response saying that he’s met the president a few times and that he thinks he is a “quality human being,” adding that his presidential record has been largely dictated by things out of his control.
“I’m not giving him a pass for not being more courageous, but I do think the entire system needs an overhaul and taking money out of politics would be a really good first step,” Fairey said.
That’s funny. I remember when Democrats touted Obama’s fundraising prowess as proof of his ability to be president. Don’t worry, Shepard. I’m sure Hillary Clinton will get big money out of politics. (Pun intended.)
Here’s more from the Matt Patches Esquire piece about Mr. Fairey:
We also need a public that isn’t so uneducated and complacent. I hate to say Americans are ignorant and lazy, but a lot of them are ignorant and lazy. It’s just like what I was talking about with Rebel Music and art. When you live in a place that has a lot of good things that make life easier, it’s easier to take them for granted. But what frustrates me to no end are people who want to blame Obama or blame anything that is something that if they were actually doing anything as simple as voting, it might not be as bad as it is. There’s a lot of finger pointing and very little action and very little research into the dynamics that created the situation that they’re unhappy about.
Uneducated? Complacent? It almost sounds like Fairey is describing the millions of ‘low information’ voters who cast their ballots for Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Obama probably would have tried to get money out of politics but to be fair, he had other priorities.
Jon Gabriel of Ricochet:
Perhaps Obama was too busy raising $1.1 billion in 2012 to get around to taking money out of politics.
Featured image via Wikipedia.