The Obama Cool: Only One Candidate In Race Inspires Heartfelt Fandom

[highplainsdem]

From John Avlon at The Daily Beast:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/09/the-obama-cool-only-one-candidate-in-race-inspires-heartfelt-fandom.html

But walking around the Charlotte convention, I was struck by the copious grassroots Obama iconography—not slick, Super-PAC sponsored imagery, but the small-press series of t-shirts and buttons, paintings, posters and children’s books.

There were posters testifying to the enduring Obama, calendars and apparently self-published children’s books—“I Can Be Anything I Want To Be.” T-shirts of the kind that sprout up at rock concerts riffed off of Clint Eastwood (“This Seat Is Taken”), and a list of “Obama Top Ten Achievements (So Far)” was punchy enough that the White House communications shop could learn a thing or two from it. There were one-of-a-kind oil paintings of the president and limited-edition prints showing Obama alongside Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X. The most Gonzo imagining of the President and First Lady showed them riding on horseback Magnificent Seven-style alongside Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali and Bob Marley, along others. There was a giant sand-sculpture of the president and even an art gallery hosting after-hours parties with half its inventory being abstract impressions of the Obamas (as well as a giant bottle-cap mosaic of Jackie Kennedy). There was even a $7 CD with “The Obama Shuffle.”

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Among Democrats, the delegate diversity was probably above national averages at this point, but the diversity in ages and incomes, in addition to race and ethnicity, was also apparent. Demographics are destiny and the Democratic convention looked a lot more like America will in the 21st Century. This is not a newsflash, but another reminder of the significant outreach Republicans are going to have to do, not just in terms of candidate recruitment but constituency outreach going forward.

Overall, the Obama iconography stood out as not just interesting but significant because it is almost impossible to imagine Mitt Romney inspiring that kind of grassroots passion. Put easy jokes about the “Romney Shuffle” aside, and reflect on the fact that you can’t buy love.

Bottom line: the Democrats did a lot to help shrink the enthusiasm gap at their convention last week, but it wasn’t just the speeches by the First Lady, Bubba and Biden. The candidate himself is still a historic figure who, even brought down to earth by the realities of governing, inspires many people in a way that average politicians don’t. Positive tends to defeat the negative.

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[Cha]

1. President Obama is Inspiring to

many people and they know how to show it! Thanks for this article, highplainsdem! I saw it at the Convention but I enjoyed reading about John Avalon's observations.

From your link..

"In a close election, the Obama cool factor ads a little bit to the election arithmetic."

Ah, but it wouldn't even be close if the Corporatemedia did their jobs and called out Mitt and Lyin' on their LIES. Instead of Pimping for them.

We are so appreciative that we do have Cool and willards have the LIES.