Editors' Note: Through the last year many news sources have referred to Barack Obama as a Messiah or as near Deity [examples: Washington Post: Is Obama a (or the) Messiah? World Net Daily: Is Barack Obama the Messiah? Or The Messiah is Absolutely Speaking. Slate formed The Obama Messiah Watch. Townhall: Obama's Growing Messiah Complex. The British Press frankly refers to Obama as “The Messiah.”] Gary Lawrence, a forty-year political veteran and California-based pollster, gives his take on this trend in this article, which is his analysis and a reflection of his own opinion.

Pretending an affiliation with Deity has long been the modus operandi for would-be rulers for one compelling reason: it works. At least for a while.

Caesar claimed to be the offspring of the goddess Venus, medieval kings ruled by Divine Right and woe unto those who doubted their direct appointment, Japanese emperors were worshipped as descendants of the Sun God, and rulers and wannabes in modern times ranging from Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana to Kim Jong-il of North Korea have claimed to be God, or at a minimum the Messiah. Even those who didn't believe in God, such as Lenin and Mao, did their best to take His place.

America generally has been spared such airs, at least until now. Recall for a moment what we have seen and heard over the last 18 months relating to the new occupant of the White House, President Barack Obama:

• The halos and streaming rays of sunlight emanating from Obama's chin-forward visage, first in pop art, then campaign posters, and then on the covers of magazines.

• The ubiquitous pictures from low camera angles looking upward into his face.

• The shameless use of labels such as The One, Messiah, Chosen One, Anointed One, Advanced Soul, Enlightened Being, Lightworker, etc.

• Chris Matthews of MSNBC: “This is bigger than Kennedy. … This is the New Testament. I felt this thrill going up my leg.”

• Mark Morford of San Francisco Chronicle's SFGate.com: “…Obama has … a powerful luminosity, a unique high-vibration integrity. […] Many spiritually advanced people … identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being … who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet ….” (Italics in original)

• Oprah Winfrey: “He is an evolved leader … [he] has an ear for eloquence and a tongue dipped in the unvarnished truth.”

• Worldwide buy-in to the phenomenon such as the German news magazine Der Spiegel's cover story “Der Messias-Faktor.”

• Late-night comedians joking that Obama planned a stopover in Bethlehem after his trip to Europe so he could visit his birthplace.

• Average voter-worshippers: “He communicates God-like energy” “…the capacity to summon heroic forces from the spiritual depths of ordinary citizens….” “No one saw him coming … like Jesus being born in a manger…” “He's our product out of the all-knowing quantum field of intelligence…” “

• And finally, Obama himself telling his supporters on the day he wrapped up his primary victory that “generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment … when the rise of oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal….”

Hubris, we are thine.

And it's not happenstance. Obama is too smart not to know the roots of his rhetoric. As he said in the New Hampshire primary: “…a beam of light will come down upon you. You will experience an epiphany … and you will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Obama.”

Having worked professionally in political campaigns for four decades, I understand the giddy enthusiasm that accompanies victory. I understand yearnings of hope. I understand the desire for improvement, a brighter future, prosperity. But this goes beyond that. I have seen candidates wrap themselves in the flag, or in their military record, or in their business successes. But I have never seen a candidate in America wrap himself and his ideology in the cloak of messiah-ship. That is scary. Support is one thing, gushy adoration and worship completely another.

I, for one, am offended by the comparisons, blatant or subtle, with my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Wouldn't a humble Christian who is the object of such worship unequivocally disavow comparisons with the Savior rather than encourage them?

Wouldn't a true follower of Christ discourage a cult of the personality?

Wouldn't he know that the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” includes the god of self?

One would think so.

But if the Obama-messiah frenzy continues and becomes more than a temporary shtick, then the uncritical adoration of a political leader will lead to problems. When people gain power, they are tempted to exercise unrighteous dominion, as D&C 121 tells us. Combine that power with messianic worship and those so adored can easily believe they are infallible, even invincible. They begin to believe their press clippings, as the saying goes. They then undertake grandiose projects to demonstrate their superior wisdom and abilities. And, unfortunately, after pro-forma conciliatory rhetoric and a few gestures to opposing viewpoints, they do not suffer fools lightly, fools being defined as those who do not rise to their same level of intelligence, talents and eloquence.

We now have … a man at the top who at the very least does not discourage his followers' perceptions that he is a messiah, … a populace that has been conditioned to believe the planet teeters on climatic catastrophe and needs to be saved, … and a financial crisis that has overwhelmed critical judgment and put unbelievable amounts of money into play. Toss in a fawning, obsequious mainstream media – the bright and beautiful ones in the great and spacious building – and it's a volatile mix that screams a warning of potential abuses of power.

The first few weeks of the new administration have revealed Obama's appetite for outsize goals; how he settles into the job over the next few weeks will be telling. Issuing presidential executive orders – “stroke of the pen; law of the land; kinda cool,” as Clinton presidential aide Paul Begala put it – will be tempting for someone who gives every indication he believes he has been divinely sent. In addition, his party controls a rubber-stamp House and an almost-filibuster-proof Senate. We will soon see if Barack Obama can discipline himself and the massive power he holds.

At the end of the day, I hope President Obama will firmly denounce messiah chic and distance himself from the budding cult of the personality. And then act consistently with those statements. Whether he does or not, he is the president for the next four years. I did not vote for him, but he is now my president, too (a principle of democracy some voters on certain initiatives have failed to grasp), and he deserves our prayers that he will have the wisdom to make correct decisions.

But we would be well advised to keep one eye open as we do.

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Gary Lawrence is a California-based pollster and author of How Americans View Mormonism; Seven Steps to Improve Our Image.