Revelation #1- THE DAILY SHOW
One thing that Barack Obama made sure he did while he was running for President was make sure that he reached the “20 something’s” demographic. Obama did this in many ways, but one thing that really stood out to me was one certain media channel (more specifically a certain television talk show) he chose to reach this demographic. This is what made him stand out from many candidates in the past, which I never realized! Paul Street, author of Barack Obama; And the Future of American Politics says "once he (Obama) attained dominant media favor, this coverage became perhaps the critical driving force behind the Obama phenomenon." (Street, 178). This is extremely true and very important for all candidates!
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Barack Obama | ||||
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(Video courtesy of http://www.thedailyshow.com)
This clip is not when Obama appeared in person on The Daily Show, but this is just as good!
Just listen to those "20 something's" cheer! This shows that just by choosing the correct media channel (television) and going on the right talk show will help reach a certain demographic. The Daily Show is extremely popular among the “20 something’s” and this is how Obama was able to directly market himself towards them. This revelation made me think about presidential candidates of the past and if they chose a television show, just like The Daily Show, maybe the results of their election could have been different. Just look at how popular Obama is among college students! Obama made history by being one of the first candidates to appear on The Daily Show, and maybe from this point on, other candidates will follow in Obama's foot steps and appear on The Daily Show!
Revelation #2- The Race Card
While Obama was running for president, one thing that made him really stand out was that he was the first “black” candidate. While Obama was running, he stated countless times that he was of mixed race. The reason why the American public loved Obama was because he did not push any racial agenda’s on them and did not talk down to them. Paul Street says on page 173 in his book Barack Obama; And the Future of American Politics, “the fact that Obama is black has helped deepen his appeal to certain white middle class voters by making him seem more liberal and progressive then he really is…”
(Image courtesy of Google Images)
Now that Obama is president, many of those middle class voters are “doubting” many of his views and standpoints and more importantly his “blackness”. This is what I really do not understand about the American public. WHO CARES! I find this to be absolutely ridiculous and I never realized that people actually felt this way until half way through our semester. Who cares what color someone’s skin is and what their racial makeup is! He became President for a reason, and this reason was not his racial background!
Revelation # 3- EEKK Politics!
Whenever the topic of politics comes up in any conversation, I always get a little uneasy. The reason for this is because I do not know anything about politics and never really studied anything related to politics until NOW! After finishing Paul Street’s book, I came to a revelation that the reason why I do not know anything about politics is because I’m just not a fan of how they are run! In Chapter two of Street’s book Barack Obama; and the Future of American Politics, there is a very interesting list of issues that have occurred just within the Democratic Party! Here are just some of the issues on this list:
-The report that the Edwards campaign had once paid $400 for a haircut the candidate received
-Obama coldly telling Hillary that she was “likeable enough” during a New Hampshire debate
-The Clinton Campaign’s charge (accurate) that Obama had lifted a number of key campaign phrases from his friend Patrick Deval, governor of Massachusetts.
-High-profile endorsements of Obama by such political notables as Edward Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and Bill Richardson
-Recurrent reports of dissension within the Clinton campaign.
(Street, 69-70).
These are just some of the issues listed in Street’s book!
After reading this lists, I just do not understand why there is drama within a political party. The Political world is one that I really could never see myself being a part of. The reason is because I just don’t understand a lot about politics and I personally am not a fan of how they are run. This list turned me off to politics even more! Here is a political cartoon that I think greatly represents drama within the Democratic party!
(Image courtesy of Google images)
Revelation #4- Snap that Photo!
For any politician, one photo can make or break their political career. This is why it is very important for all politicians to be aware of when pictures are being taken of them. For Obama, all pictures taken of him are extremely important during his time as president. This is why Obama needs to make sure that he is always photographed doing the right thing, putting on the right suit, and putting on the right smile! The reason why I am discussing photography and politics is because of Neil Postman’s book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. On page 73, there is a very interesting line referring to context and how the public can misinterpret anything that a public figure says, but this is not the case with a picture.
“Language makes sense only when it is presented as a sequence of propositions. Meaning is distorted when a word of sentence is, as we say, taken out of context; when a reader or listener is deprived of what was said before, and after. But there is no such thing as a photograph taken out of context, for a photograph does not require one” (Postman, 73).
If one is to Google pictures of Obama, the photo’s that come up are of him looking like a million bucks and always doing the right thing. This is because if just one photo comes out of Obama doing something wrong, his political career could be in jeopardy. I never realized how important just one picture is to a politician! Here are some pictures of Obama and his family. The reason why I chose these photos is because it is very important for Obama’s political career! And don't forget, a photo can be worth a thousand words!
(All three pictures courtesy of Google Images)
Revelation #5- "Obamanists" know their brand!
Since I have been mainly discussing Obama, I thought it would be a great idea to discuss one of the biggest reasons why Obama has become such a large brand; his supporters! As everyone knows, when Obama was running, people were going crazy over him. They almost seemed cult-ish. I myself was not one of them, but quite a few of my friends were and I must admit, “Obamanists” (term taken from Paul Street) are a breed of their own. But, where would Obama be today without his dedicated supporters? This is why one of my most important revelations about the Obama brand deals with his supporters!
Obama’s supporters went above and beyond. Just look at this pretty young lady who become an instant celebrity from her infamous song “Crush on Obama”.
(Video courtesy of Youtube.com)
As you can see, Obama had so many different types of supporters while he was running for president. This is why I have come to realize that “Obamanists” may seem cult-ish, but they really know all about what Obama wants for our country and that is a rare thing when it comes to politics. Supporters (especially college students) of any candidate normally do not know ALL platforms of their candidates, but for “Obamanists”, they do know all!
On page 135 in Paul Street’s book Barack Obama; and the Future of American Politics there was a very interesting quote that basically is the reason why I wrote this revelation….
“Oh, you can’t talk policy and issues with the Obama people. Don’t even try. There’s no discussion with them. They already know everything.”
Basically, “Obamanists” are addicted to the Obama brand and very fluent when it comes to the brand!
Revelation #6- Obama Cares!
For Barack Obama, building his brand over the years seems like it has come naturally. This is because Obama is truly a man that has a passion for what he does. This commercial was first seen in his early political advertisements that ran on television. Here is just one of his early political commercials from 2007…
The reason why I wanted everyone to see this commercial is because within the first three seconds of the commercial, Obama has hit home with a lot of Americans. For millions of Americans, cancer has greatly affected their lives and by Obama telling his own personal story with cancer, it has a lot of appeal.
When I think of political commercials, I always think of a candidate taking digs towards another candidate. This is not the case with many (not all) of Obama’s commercials. He made sure that he appealed to the American public. This revelation occurred because I never realized how affective Obama’s political commercials were. Showing the picture of him as a little boy and his mother and then going on about how he lost her to cancer really made me feel for him. Having this image of him and his mother reminded me of Neil Postmans, Amusing Ourselves to Death, because on page 7 he says "For on television, discourse is conducted largely through visual imagery," which is exactly what was done in this commercial. This is just one example of why Obama is our current president! Obama’s campaign team really knew how to create a commercial that would touch many Americans and really show what the Obama brand cares for.
Revelation #7- SOCIAL MEDIA MANIA!
"Our own tribe is undergoing a vast and trembling shift from the magic of writing to the magic of electronics.."
-Neil Postman, author, Amusing Ourselves to Death
For the Obama brand, utilizing electronics, mainly social media, was extremely important. This reason for this is because this brand was able to reach millions of people, just through the inter-webs. For Obama, this was one of the main advantages he had over his competitors. By using Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs, Obama was able to directly reach the demographics he wanted to follow his campaign.
Here is a very interesting statistic I found about Obama and McCains Twitter accounts…
-By the time Obama was elected, he had over 100,000 followers. McCain only had less than 5,000.
This just shows how important having an online presence is! The Obama brand had more than double the number of friends on Myspace and Facebook.
Could this have been one of the reasons why Obama won?
Without having this online presence, millions of people would not have been informed about the Obama brand. This is why I have realized that social media is extremely important for anyone who wants to reach millions of people throughout the United States.
Here is a short video that gives the statistics between Obama and McCain during the 2008 Presidential Election
Revelation #8- LISTEN TO THE WORDS!!!!
For many Americans, electing Obama meant that all of our troops in Iraq would be brought home. But, this is not the case!
A lot of supporters for Obama have said that Obama “lied” and “mis-lead” them to believe that the war would be over. This is why I find it very important to point out that Obama never promised that all of our troops would be brought home from Iraq.
Obama gave a war speech entitled “A Way Forward in Iraq” in which there were some key phrases that some Americans did not listen to. In Street’s novel, Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics, street breaks down this speech and pulls out some key details.
-Obama acknowledged that U.S. troops may need to stay in that occupied country for an “extended period” of time (Street, 141).
-Obama called for U.S. forces to maintain a “reduced but active presence,” to “protect logistical supply points” (Street, 141).
These are just some of the things that many Americans did not WANT to hear. This is why I find it is extremely important to LISTEN to EVERYTHING that a political candidate is saying. There were promises of hope and peace, but in some situations, like the war in Iraq, these promises can only go so far. This is why once again I do not understand why the American public has some strong words against the Obama brand. War is a very huge problem and for Obama to fully try and take our troops out of Iraq, it is a huge task. This is why people need to understand that this can’t just happen over night and may take a few years, even after Obama is no longer president!
(Image courtesy of Google Images)
Revelation #9- Getting by with help from those 20-something’s!
As my first revelation mentioned, one of Obama’s largest followings are the “20-somethings”. Without them, where would Obama’s social media endeavors have been? This is why I must admit that without them, the Obama brand would not have a large social media presence. One thing that Obama’s team did to ensure that the brand was spread throughout the Internet was hire a lot of these “20-somethings” and put them to work on the inter-webs!
“The 20-somethings in the New Media Department are responsible for everything from designing merchandise sold on the Web site to blogging to uploading videos and managing chat rooms.” Charles Gibson, ABC New Anchorman (Street, 61).
PURE GENIOUS!!!!!!
By having one of Obama’s largest target demographics work on his campaign, he was able to spread his brand like wildfire. College students throughout the country instantly became obsessed with the brand and wanted everything that had to do with Obama.
On the night the Obama was elected President, there was basically a riot in Burlington, Vermont. Hundreds of college students stormed downtown shouting “Obama, Obama, Obama!” It was quite the site and I’m sure a scene that could have been seen throughout the country in many college towns.
The reason why I am talking about the 20-somethings again is because without them, where would Obama be today? They fueled all of his social media endeavors. I feel that without them, Obama would have had a social media presence just like McCain…very low and not very popular! GO 20-SOMETHINGS!!!!!
Here is a video of college students in Burlington, Vermont storming downtown!!!
Revelation #10- I HEART POLITICS!
For many Americans, myself included, politics is an avoided topic. Maybe it is because they are not well versed, not sure what exactly politics entails, and or what each candidate represents, but there is something that the Obama brand has brought to the table.
As Paul Street says on page 204 in his book Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics:
“The Obama experience has encouraged and extraordinary amount of new popular engagement in the political process, sparking millions of Americans to overcome their endemic disgust with politics and their sense of powerlessness with the U.S. sociopolitical order. One chant frequently heard at Obama rallies- “Yes, We Can”- is not to be taken lightly. It is a very welcome sentiment to hear, and Obama deserves credit for encouraging it in an often eloquent and inspiring way.”
WOW! This makes me understand why so many people have become obsessed with the Obama brand. Obama created a brand that has made people feel like they can actually make a difference. No only has the Obama brand influenced many Americans, but I have a feeling that in the future, more politicians will be adopting Obama’s ways to reaching out to the American public. The Obama brand is one that will go down in history and may be one of the most influencal brands that we have seen in history. This is why I expect to see a HUGE change in American politics in the future and hopefully a change among the American public with their views on politics. THANK YOU BARACK OBAMA! YES, WE CAN!
(Image courtesy of Google Images)
