Barack Obama is everywhere. His speeches, interviews and press conferences broadcast nonstop on TV news. He’s a page-one staple for newspapers across the world. He’s appeared in comic books, in books and on the covers of magazines. This much should be expected. We want Barack. More and more of him. All the time.

As of writing this, a Google search for “Barack Obama” returns 99,900,000 results. To put that into perspective, “hot sex” only generates 31,600,000. “Porn” yields 19,600,000. With Google as a judge, Barack Obama is substantially more popular than our most carnal of vices (not to mention the industry that helped shape and popularize the Internet itself). So what happens when we can’t get enough of our 44th president of the United States of America? We follow him everywhere and document his every move, by any means necessary. Sounds like a perfect job for the paparazzi. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the paps will be on Obama like you’ve never before seen with a US president.

But back to Google for a second. “Britney Spears” generates 96,400,000 hits, and “Paris Hilton” logs 86,100,000. Although John McCain’s campaign-trail attempt at stinging Obama with the “biggest celebrity” tag largely fell flat among pundits and Joe Six-Packs alike, the comparison did hold weight in terms of measuring his popularity (though not in terms of implicating vapid posturing). One hundred thousand strong showed up to rally for Obama beneath the Arch in St. Louis. And he wasn’t even yet president. His fan club is gargantuan.

A widely circulated article by Daniel Libit and Jeffrey Ressner on Politico explored a claim by ABC’s Jake Trapper that Obama would be “the Britney Spears of 2009.” The article’s authors wrote, “With a faction of compliant, adulatory and skin-deep chroniclers added to the media mix, Obama has found a consistent wing of support, one that can be used to upend the traditional political media apparatus, bringing new story lines to the fore and changing the game of how a president is covered.” Notably, Obama has been photographed shirtless on vacation in Hawaii…

…both flattering…

…and unflattering…

…on dates with Michelle…

…taking his children to school…

…biking (while wearing a helmet)…

…and emerging from a workout wearing his famously beat-up White Sox cap…

And that’s just a handful. Quoted in the Politico article was Jeff Jarvis, founding editor of Entertainment Weekly, who noted that the paparazzi have gained an advantage even over Washington news photographers: “The idea that the Washington [photographers] agreed not to cover him and the paparazzi did so changes the rules of the Washington press corps. If one person breaks away from the pack, there is no pack.” In other words, there are no rules if you don’t play by them to begin with.

Obviously, the role of president will come with increased security and precautions that our commander in chief will not be hounded in the abusive manner many of our tabloid staples have in the past (we’re looking at you, Amy Winehouse). George Bush, for one, adopted a bunker mentality in the White House, rarely emerging outside, aside from the occasional press conference. But Obama is already showing signs that even 1600 Pennsylvania protocol will not entirely quell his social tendencies. For one, he’s refusing to abandon his BlackBerry (a stance many of us can relate to). What could have been seen as a major security liability is now understood as the president refusing to unclench his grip on reality and his connection to his peers.

What effect will this paparazzi coverage have on the presidency? Some argue that it begins to trivialize the office. Others advocate that it humanizes the man in charge, a very real and vital advantage for a politician of Obama’s demeanor. French President Nicholas Sarkozy has certainly benefited in this manner as his often-photographed appearances with wife Carla Bruni has done nothing short of heightening his profile and magnitude. Whatever the case, the phrase “following his every move” will no doubt gain new meaning for the office of the president throughout the next four years–and hopefully eight.