Barack Obama was going to be different. At least that was the storyline. Sure he was a politician, but only technically. He was so much more than that, according to the narrative. In Barack Obama we had a candidate who was smart and charismatic and wasn’t going to behave like any old time politician who came before him. No, he was not just different; he was better. He was the future. Here was a man who was selling “hope” and “change” to a nation that could use a little hope and change after George W. Bush. So America rallied behind this man of vision. And in the eyes of many Americans, he was much more than a mere man; he was a messiah.