The electorate of this decade have the lionization of charismatic leaders down to a tee! Do Obama worship and Clinton worship really differ that much?

I think American society unfortunately has a strong cultural strand of anti-intellectualism. To some degree, speaking and writing in an intelligent manner or thinking about things of substance is considered uncool, nerdy, or whatever the appropriate perjorative would be. For instance, among lower-class blacks those who value learning and intelligence are accused of “acting white” at times. I think what goes on there is a more extreme version of the anti-intellectualism found in the wider culture.

For instance, in French culture, leading intellectuals like Sartre, Camus, De Beavoir, Foucault, etc. were actually considered to be celebrities. Whatever one thinks of their actual ideas, the notion of “celebrity intellectuals” in America is almost unthinkable. I can think of almost no one from recent history who would fall into that category. Maybe some of the celebrity scientists like Carl Sagan come close.