Every Picture Tells a Story

Some years ago MOMA had an exhibit on the history of photography. The general premise of the exhibit was that when photography first appeared on the scene people had their pictures taken because they were important to the culture. But it wasn't long before it was reversed and people were important to the culture because they had their picture taken.

I'd call it the Britney Spears phenomenon.

And so it is with this election. We now have a Republican Party running candidates who are
important because they are having their picture taken. Not for any good reason. Largely for bad ones, but they are still on the cover of every major news magazine in the country.

And Mr. Obama is out of the limelight. No news is bad news in an election. Being a good boy doesn't get coverage. But Sarah Palin has provided us with scandalous news on almost a daily basis. She's the center of attention. Even eclipsing the top of her own ticket. So who are we talking about? Who are we looking at? Not Obama.

He has to tell us his story in the same compelling way that she's telling hers. In a way that makes us feel he's just like us. The way she has.

It's a game we don't know how to play. And we'd better learn fast.

When was the last time a vice presidential candidate was on the cover of all the major gossip magazines? People, Star, Us. There she is with her pregnant daughter and her Down Syndrome son.

We have got to find a way to get back into the spotlight. We have got to find a way to have the American people understand that the presidential election is not an episode of American Idol. And if it's going to be conducted as if it were, Obama and Biden had better start practicing their song. They better sing out loud. And they might consider wearing bikinis. Because if they want to get people to listen to them, they're going to have to get their picture taken.

Comments

[SCG2]

" Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive. And don't ever apologize for anything."
- Harry Truman

Obama needs his own "1948 Truman convention speech" mixed with a bit of FDR's Fala's speech, which take on the "Republicans" (as a single franchise). Call them out on their failed ideology and their cynical tactics to deceive voters.

As for public attention, how about putting on major speeches at large auditoriums as he did during the primaries, perhaps with special guests as the schedule allows? Maybe perhaps make them a fund raisers with inexpensive tickets. It should get local coverage.

He needs to " attack "- Mc Cain/ Bush record/ republican ideas.

He needs a theme/s which he stays on, hammers on, and repeats. Define your opponent, or they will fill the vacuum, and define you. And as "Straight talk"? doesn't equal l.ies, try to undermine that Mc Cain claim, by pointing out the lobbyists and the deception.­......a refrain of: "That's not straight talk!"....­etc.

Pres. Harry Truman’s 1948 Convention Speech Video 26:05 mins.

http://cspanjunkie.org/?p=270

Campaign address of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, September 23, 1944. Washington, DC to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Text and audio: http://www.hpol.org/fdr/fala/

One last quote,

"When you have to deal with a beast, you have to treat him as a beast. It is most regrettable but nevertheless true."

- Harry Truman (farmer)

[Pogopaws]

There is something deeply depressing about the idea that a candidate who is head and shoulders above his opposition has to even deal with this mishigas. This is the "leader of the free world" we're talking about, not a pageanteer vying for a paste tiara.
Obama is serious. And he asks the rest of us to be serious, too. I know that's a lot to ask, but, hey, it's worth the chance.

[alaska5123]

The problem is that no one wants to look into the real Obama. They want to read his memoirs and take his story at face value. No one wants to ask the tough questions.­..

So for 19 months, his supporters have been supporting a great speaker who they don't really know.

[oneviciouslife]

i'm very well informed about my candidate. can you say the same?

[hotwire]

Maybe if O would run against McCain instead of Palin she wouldn't be everyones darling. Every day he throws some kind of dirt out there trying to get her off the ticket. Sure, he said stop, but he send his puppets out to do it. He's to blame for keeping the world focused on her. Women see what he's trying to do to her and they don't like it, just look at the polls, he's losing their vote by 12% now. He better dump Axlerod and quick!

[Dailyfare]

Senator Obama has been campaigning for 19 months. Unlike Sarah Palin, it's too late for him to create a fantasy Obama.

For 19 months I've heard "he has to connect, he has to connect". But those who the punditry keep saying he has to connect to - those who readily admit that they will not, or are skeptical of, voting for a black man - are NEVER going to listen to him, let alone vote for him.

They are comfortable with the status quo, and it would be a waste of time to try to get their vote.

[Bongborg]

Compelling way she is telling her story? The thing is, she is not telling her story, she's telling the story of someone who looks just like her, but hasn't committed all the abuses of power, friends, and family that she has. She is a loose cannon, and when she goes off, it's going to be powder burns and shrapnel all around for the Republican Party.

[micropainter]

"We have got to find a way to have the American people understand that the presidential election is not an episode of American Idol. "

Well. This is a hilarious comment in view of the way Senator Obama conducted his campaign against Senator Clinton as a popularity contest just like an American Idol episode. (Remember, "She's likeable enough"? "Obama is a Mac; Clinton is a PC"?)

As Frank Rich glibly wrote In the New York Times: "It's time for Barack Obama to dispatch "Change We Can Believe In" to a dignified death....t­he strategy that vanquished Hillary Clinton must be rebooted to take out John McCain." (August 23/08).

Does that mean that all those voters that believed that Senator Obama was somehow transcending politics--as-usual were deceived by nothing more than a coldly calculated "strategy"? (Remember, "We are the ones we have been waiting for"?)

Of course, American elections are just like American Idol. It's a popularity contest to voters because that's exactly the way the Obama campaign played it.

[ajax2]

"He has to tell us his story in the same compelling way that she's telling hers. In a way that makes us feel he's just like us. The way she has."

There couldn't be another person more unlike me than Sarah Palin, perhaps GW.
I find nothing compelling about her. The fact that she and GW were elected Governors, and considered for world leadership is a tragedy, an American Tragedy, not something to be copied.

[StickyStickyMcCain]

Obama/Biden, Mccain/pallin are running for the two highest offices in the land, not for South Jersey High's 20 year reunion, prom king and king, king and queen, queen and queen, queen and king, or whatever. Attention getters throughout the fortnight.

What you're saying is gloomy for women. So, when women resonate with the masses, it HAS TO BE on the big scale, a big bold gesture. So that popularity skyrockets when its 98% image and 2% talent, etc., Britney Spear. "We'll find out if she has talent later,who cares" Although I did think Madonna was talentless, but she has sustained herself over two decades and is now 50 Image /50 Talent. This is not good. Palin is 98% Image right now. There are few women in popular culture who have worked themselves up to the masses, via Talent First, Image second. Palin is not one.

On the other hand, you can't compare the female scenario with Obama,and his image issues. People have gotten over the excitement of Obama, to the point of questioning him, doubting him, loving him, hating him, admiring him, etc. etc. But this occurred over a period of 18 months, not two months. And it was him and him alone, he did not bring a gimmicks along for attention. He stood up their, at the height of his popularity, on his own. I think this resonates with folks just like us.

[PhDiva]

Naomi, let's get real about the racial politics. The white voters who are flocking to Palin are never going to see a Black person as being "like them." Obama was strong when he was inspiring people. That's where he wins; he needs to remember to go back to that.

[StickyStickyMcCain]

Obama/Biden, Mccain/pallin are running for the two highest offices in the land, not for South Jersey High's 20 year reunion, prom king and king, king and queen, queen and queen, queen and king, or whatever. Attention getters throughout the fortnight.

What you're saying is gloomy for women. So, when women resonate to the masses, immediately, it HAS TO BE on the big scale, a big bold gesture. So that popularity skyrockets 98% image and 2% talent, etc., Britney Spear. "We'll find out if she has talent later,who cares" Although I did think Madonna was talentless, but she has sustained herself over two decades and is now 50 Image /50 Talent. This is not good. Palin is 98% Image right now. There are been few women in popular culture that have worked themselves up to the masses, via Talent First, Image second. Palin is not one.

On the other hand, you can't compare the female scenario with with Obama,and his image issues. People have gotten over the excitement of Obama, to the point of questioning him, doubting him, loving him, hating him, admiring him, etc. etc. But this occurred over a period of 18 months, not two months. And it was him and him alone, he didn't not bring any gimmicks along for attention. He stood up their, at the height of his popularity, on his own. I think this resonates with folks just like us.

[Bongborg]

Once was enough for that nonsense, Stickysicky.

[pithy]

I think we all need to calm down. Did the tortoise or the hare win the race? Dems have registered 4 million new voters - Rethugs have lost 344,000.

We can't take back this country by becoming like THEM - just like we can't defeat terrorism by becoming torturing terrorists ourselves.

Get a grip folks - all this dooms-day crap is giving the thugs the biggest laughs they've had all year.

Because of their over-the-top stuff, there is going to be a backlash. The press is about to explode. Dems will be more energized - the young vote will come out.

STOP DANCING ON YOUR OWN GRAVE - OBAMA WILL WIN!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!

[1IrishdeAztlan]

Really? We, the American peole, don't know who Obama is by now? Good Lord in the Morning! This thing has gone on for 20 months now.

It's Sarah Palin that we don't know.

[marika]

You say to make us feel she is just like us. No ,No ,No, never! I don't want to be like that woman ever!

[Rescisco]

The best candidate frequently loses it seems. Some of the “losers” in presidential elections have been among the more articulate and bright voices of our culture. Adlai Stevenson, well before my time but of interest to me as an uncommon and classy individual, was clearly the brightest of his time. Listening to him speak on You Tube (not canned political commercials), one hears a coherent mind and an analytical capacity that is rare. Likewise with Eugene McCarthy who, his poetic bent aside, was more of a genuine intellectual. Both appear to have been too intelligent to be elected but obviously superior to the competition. Both were far more comfortable dissecting complex problems and applying the tools of historical analysis and analytical perspective to them than they were with the mechanics of the tawdry art of politics. For some time it has struck me that being capable and bright is the last thing that counts in elections, and in fact it hurts more than it helps. Conversely it appears that to be electable one must be intellectually and morally obtuse. In winning over the befuddled majority, it is not wise to be too smart or too honest. The reality is that the truly articulate and the bright find it impossible to be obtuse enough to win. McCain-Palin are just obtuse enough.

[MizLiz]

I remember people calling Adlai Stevenson an "egghead". Got sick of that word. Now they're trying it again on Obama. Why do voters resent candidates of superior intelligence? Don't they see how a dummy has ruined this country?