I know exactly what they’re doing.
As the media twists itself into knots wondering who Barack Obama will choose as his Vice Presidential running mate (and when), Obama and company are sitting back and enjoying all the attention lavished on their campaign by the endless procession of speculation. And the media, for its part, is all too happy to oblige. Monday it was Joe Biden, Tuesday it was Kathleen Sebelius. Today, it’s Caroline Kennedy. The media needs something new to talk about every day — so a new person gets suggested daily, and the 24-hour discussion takes root.
In short, it’s genius.
As each name gets mentioned, the discussion centers on what they’ll do for the Obama campaign, and why Barack Obama likes them. When they discuss Bill Richardson, it’s because Obama wants to appeal to Hispanic voters. When it’s Joe Biden in the spotlight, it’s because Obama wants a foreign policy maven. If it’s Tim Kaine of Virginia, Obama is looking to reinforce his ticket as one of change and departure from “old politics.” If it’s Evan Bayh, Obama’s looking to court down home Midwesterners. If it’s Kathleen Sebelius, he wants to appeal to women.
And what is the conclusion people reach? Simple. No one in the media seems to notice it (nor do most people on this site), but as this procession of “what this person adds to the campaign” stories parade themselves across front pages of websites and rattle around in the day-to-day opinion columns, a narrative starts to take shape that Obama cares about YOU.
Who, exactly, are YOU, and why are you so important? Obviously, “you” is different for each of us, and that’s the point. The American public, including and especially those “low-information voters,” isn’t paying nearly as much attention to the race as we political junkies are, and certainly not this early in the campaign.
But each of these Veep discussions is in and of itself a little dog whistle for specific sections of society. Over the past month, people have heard the following, thanks to the names being floated in the media:
Obama cares about foreign policy (Biden), the military (Clark), Hispanics (Richardson), Unity (Clinton), Red States (Kaine), conservative whites (Bayh), change (Sebelius), women (Sebelius), “outside the beltway” types (Kennedy), business (yes, T. Boone Pickens has been discussed), and bipartisanship (Hagel).
Do any of these names or concepts make your ears perk up? Do you just gloss over others without a thought? Exactly! That’s why letting the media play their guessing game is working so well. Sure, we know the pros and cons of each of these choices — but most people, all they hear are the positives. And the main thing they hear is “Obama Cares About __Blank__.”
Even though none of the daily discussions have much impact on the polls or the race as a whole, to some voters (and all it takes is a few to win an election), hearing that Obama Cares About __Blank__ is a big plus if they’re otherwise unsure about supporting him. Maybe that sentiment will linger with a lot of voters, or maybe it will pass quickly. But for certain people, hearing that Obama is cozying up to a politician they can relate to is huge.
Chris Matthews lamented on Hardball last night that Obama was missing a “huge opportunity” by (maybe) waiting until Saturday to announce his VP pick. I call BS on that — this is the internet age, and Obama will still get huge pub and make it into the Sunday papers.
What’s more, as I mentioned earlier, the media needs something new to talk about every day. If Obama picked his Vice President on Tuesday, the media would nearly be out of things to say (though not for lack of trying) by Thursday. The longer he waits, the more this guessing game plays out and creates the world’s most helpful narrative:
Obama Cares About __Blank__
And the best part? It’s true. He really does care about these issues, and that’s why he has so many strong choices for his running mate. The McCain campaign, deciding between Liberal Lieberman, Pro-Choice Tom Ridge, or an unknown generic Republican, must be absolutely green with envy.
Perhaps Mr. McCain should take a page out of Obama’s playbook and decide to care about something. Anything would do.
Related Posts:
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.