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

[babylonsister]

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


The Obama Cool: Only One Candidate In Race Inspires Heartfelt Fandom
by John Avlon Sep 9, 2012 4:45 AM EDT

The Obama iconography stood out because it is almost impossible to imagine Mitt Romney inspiring that kind of grassroots passion, writes John Avlon.

snip//

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.”

The cumulative effect was surreal and occasionally silly, but not creepy —it did not stray into cult-of-personality as much as reflect heartfelt fandom. It has an obvious relate-able parallel—the love of the Irish Catholic community for JFK. Just as he was their first president, Obama will always hold a similar place in the firmament for the African-American community, a place where pride and patriotism intersect and inspire future generations into public service.

snip//

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.

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

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Heartfelt fandom, yes, but Romney's base is much stronger. Chart of the enthusiasm gap:

His base of course is the Anybody But Obama base who are holding their nose voting for Romney.

[Indpndnt]

2. They just need to be convinced...

that holding their noses that tightly in order to go through with it will only result in gangrene right in the middle of their faces.

[tjdee]

3. And they are so jealous, too.

Haters. *snickers*