Conservative talk show hosts and their listeners are exasperated. They know the Obama candidacy is essentially an act—a calculated, well-scripted, cinematic performance. What really gets them down is the ease with which Obama captivates the imagination of the electorate when the evidence is so abundant that Obama is really an inexperienced, calculating, leftist flip-flopper.

Here’s why: Obama gives the audience what they want—an awesome cinematic spectacle. As a result, and in the words of Coleridge, Obama supporters easily slip into “that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.”

If conservatives can’t shake the faith of Obama supporters, they can at least entertain themselves with some of the devices and conventions, or “tropes,” used in creative endeavors like literature, film, TV, anime, video games, and, yes, 21st century political campaigns. Think: politics in “Toontown” a la “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”

According to the Web site “TV Tropes Wiki” a “willing suspension of disbelief” is the cinematic rule that, “Any creative endeavor … is only successful to the extent that the audience offers this willing suspension as they read, listen or watch. An author’s work, in other words, does not have to be realistic, only believable and internally consistent.” In cinematic terms, Obama claims the “high ground” and the “rule of cool,” defined as, “The limit of the willing suspension of disbelief for a given element is directly proportional to its degree of coolness. Stated another way, all but the most pedantic of viewers will forgive liberties with reality so long as the result is wicked sweet and/or awesome.”

There you have it. Obama smartly employs cinematic “tropes” better than anyone since John F. Kennedy and the days of Camelot. TV Tropes notes, “Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations.” As the names imply, at any given time Obama portrays himself as “the chosen one,” “superhero,” “because destiny says so,” “the only one,” or “nigh invulnerable.”

David Ehrenstein, a writer steeped in Hollywood and film, first recognized Obama as a cinematic character in his keenly insightful article, “Obama the ‘Magic Negro,’” published last year in the L.A. Times. Ehrernstein explained that “He’s there to assuage white ‘guilt’ (i.e., the discomfort they feel) over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history, while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man…. As might be expected, this figure is chiefly cinematic—embodied by such noted performers as Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman….

Yet, Obama runs a risk of overplaying his hand as too many flip-flops will break the willing suspension of disbelief:

When the author pushes the audience too far, the work becomes a “wall banger” [a script so bad it is thrown against the wall]… Wall bangers certainly wreck episodes and turn away a few fans, but repeated instances can indicate a show is about to, or has already “jumped the shark….  Jumping the shark  is the defining moment when an established show changes in a significant manner in an attempt to stay fresh. Ironically, that moment makes the viewers realize that the show has finally run out of ideas. It has reached its peak, it will never be the same again, and from now on it’s all downhill.

I call this the “popcorn throwdown”—the point in a bad movie where I throw down my popcorn and walk.

Obama’s cinematic characterization must be ridiculed, like Rush Limbaugh’s song parody “Barack the Magic Negro” and Karl Rove’s observations that Obama is the embodiment of pride and hubris, among the “seven deadly sins.” Obama is certainly guilty of “take over the world” or “utopia justifies the means” tropes—both wall bangers. And, if Obama is indeed the super villain, he is subject to anti-villain devices, such as “Achilles’ heel” and “flaw exploitation.” Obama’s outdoor convention coronation should be painted as “a God am I” moment, like Morgan Freeman in the closing minutes of the recent movie “Wanted” where the character then turns into “a God am I” villain.

With a little imagination conservatives can deal the Obama campaign a series of wall bangers leading to his jumping the shark. A massive popcorn throwdown could result.

It’s entirely plausible that Obama could have a “kick the dog” moment—and all of America will see this cinematic spectacle for what is: a calculated, well-scripted act.