Political cults have many variations... and this is one variation of it.
Barack Obama vows to 'change the world'
But much of Mr Obama's speech in Londonderry - punctuated by cries of "We all love you Obama", "I love you" and "We will work with you" - was devoted to the kind of quasi-religious sentiments and motivational-coach style exhortations, the kind of pride that set him up for a big fall in January.
"I want you to believe," said the candidate, clad in an open-necked shirt and barn jacket. "Not so much believe just in me but believe in yourselves. Believe in the future. Believe in the future we can build together. I'm confident together we can't fail."
There was a carnival atmosphere among the crowd of some 4,000, who almost drowned Mr Obama out as he reached his crescendo and said: "I promise you. We won't just win New Ham
pshire. We will win this election and, you and I together, we're going to change the country and change the world."
Mr Obama was described as "preternaturally confident" in a gushing endorsement by the Washington Post on Friday.
