A New Direction Requires A New President
By Shaun Kenney | Monday, April 4th, 2011 | PoliticsYou can’t help but point and laugh at the Barack Obama kickoff just a tiny bit. Don’t get me wrong, the video is exceptionally well done…
…but.
Notice anyone missing in the video? Obama himself appears precisely once in the entire 2:08 spot. Once. Of course, these guys aren’t dumb. There’s a reason why his consultants did this, and it’s simple. They don’t want sympathetic Democrats, liberals, progs or independents to empathize with Barack Obama the man. They want people to empathize with Barack Obama the idea.
Obama isn’t a person… Obama is a movement, a brand, an idea, a way of governing. Anything you wish to impose upon the concept, Obama can be. It’s the definition of high polysemy… and for expressive choice theorists, precisely what you want to become — the personification of the movement.
Of course, Republicans aren’t letting this go unanswered. Governor Tim Pawlenty is doing something that, frankly, has never been tried. In my (strongly held) opinion, it’s working marvelously. This, for instance, was Pawlenty’s canned response to Obama’s announcement.
Now I don’t care who you are — that’s excellent craic right there.
Republicans are more keyed into the emotive of video. Democrats (at least on Team Obama) have figured out the workings of expressive choice theory. If you’re a betting man, the Democrats will swiftly learn how to create the sort of video’s that key into a specific demographics impulses, while Republicans will struggle mightily to shift from rational choice theory — which is perfectly suited for the data driven microtargeting perfected in 2000 — to the expressive choice theory that Obama has, from all outside perspective, has mastered in textbook style.
If all this flew over your head, don’t worry. Most folks don’t know and don’t care, will talk in flighty terms about pressing flesh and principles over pragmatism, or building coalitions, blah blah blah. There’s a reason why they call it political science though… and a reason why sheer instinct is being replaced by metric-driven data and technique. The consequences of this are pretty stark — the more uneducated a populace, the more susceptible they are to this sort of marketing.
Or more accurately, the more convinced a political strategist can make you of a false education on an issue (or just inflate your ego and sense of accomplishment), the more effective the techniques will become. Look again at the Obama video… how does that work? By getting you to buy in and using psychology to appeal to baser instincts. The placement of food, the half screens of talking heads and the other half of TV, kitchen appliances, pillows.
Believe it or not, your mind processes a certain comfort level with those images in the background, and that interprets into an association with those items. Ergo, Obama is hometown, kitchen tables, college oriented, fresh fruit, comfortable pillows, disarming, and the personification of our values.
Same with the Pawlenty video — bright lights, contrast, even the “losing the present” line sounds like “losing the president” followed with an angry female caller and a charged tempo implying chaos, calming when viewing two objects; an American flag, and President Tim Pawlenty… or is that too soon? And $100 says that was tested with focus groups wired up to detect physiological responses to the imagery.
Welcome to the future, folks.
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About the author
Shaun Kenney is the Chairman of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, former Communications Director for the Republican Party of Virginia, and an active blogger since 2002. Shaun lives in Thomas Jefferson's backyard with his wife, six children, and a modest attempt at a farm in Kents Store, Virginia.
Comments
13 Responses to "A New Direction Requires A New President"
Let’s see. The direction we are headed has produced significant job growth, a significant reduction in the unemployment rate, insurance coverage for a whole new set of folks, corporate wealth at the highest level ever, 401ks back to where they were prerecession, a continuation of the Bush tax cuts, a phased reduction in Iraq and a planned phased withdrawal in Afghanistan as they take the frontline roles.
So Shaun, we don’t need a new direction, and we certainly do not need to threaten the recovery. Frankly, most of those who have benefitted from this recovery in both parties are petrified that this small band of zealots in the House may bully the leadership of both parties to adopt harsh austerity measures that will threaten our welfare. I certainly hope not.
WTF a significant reduction in the unemployment rate Mike are you on drugs or what ? Do you even realize that the stimulus was passed so the unemployment rate wouldn’t go over 8% ? Did you think everyone forgot this ?
Yes, the rate dropped agin this month to 8.8%, down from over 10%, and this factor taken in concert with many others reveals that we are growing again. Yet the tea party seems quite willing to risk this recovery, and to cause us to go back into recession, which is exactly what most rational citizens do not want. Just look at Ireland and England to see what happens to business confidence when too harsh cuts are forced on the citizens. Long term, post 2012, we need a ten year program to reduce the deficit, the debt, and reform spending on the big budget drivers. An enforced ideological driven attack on social programs for the poor, the elderly, the young, and the needy is not what we need at this point in time.
Mike I hate to rain on your parade but in Jan. 2009 the unemployment rate was 7.8% that was the highest it EVER was under George W.Bush. and the LOWEST it has ever been under Obama.Remember if we didn’t spend a trillion dollars the unemployment might go to 8%.Did you forget all the shovel ready jobs.
Yes, your disappointment at the clear and obvious improvement of the economy is palpable. Yet I suspect most posters may realize that bodes well for the President, and of course, bodes well for us. Real improvement from a solid foundation is what most of us want, and that is clear every month as the indicators I mentioned above improve. I know that is disappointing to you as you yearn for the irrational exhuberance of the good old days of the Bush administration. Frankly, spare me the juiced up hyper activity of those days, and keep us on the path of solid growth and development, no matter who gains politically.
Improvement ? So you think 8.8% unemployment rate is better than 7.8% ? Solid foundation ? We are now borrowing 42 of every 100 dollars we spend and you think that is a solid foundation ? When Obama took office the national average gas price was $1.65 today it is 3.67 that quite a CHANGE. What kinda drugs are you on man ?
Not so much drugs, it appears. There are many in the US who have drunk the Obama Kool-Aid. I will submit that while any growth in the economy is good, this is by far from solid. We are not growing at a good enough rate yet. And when we do, in my opinion, it will be despite Obama and his policies, not because of them.
Mike Barrett- I’ve noticed that you are the resident Liberal here at BD. I’ve seen you post the same bogus economic info time and again, especially with respect to the unemployment numbers. Many have tried to correct you with the true information, yet you put your hands over your ears and sing la la la la, I don’t hear you, which is what Liberals do when they are confronted with the facts. Unless you live in a cave, under a rock, or with Chrissy Matthews, you know darn well that what you are saying is bogus. William Buckley said it better than I ever could-
“I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.”
I leave the labeling to others. From my own perspective as the CEO of a corporation, the last thing I want right now is another challenge to the recovery. As a business person, I am pleased that jobs in the private sector are being created at an increasing pace, that the unemployment rate is decreasing, that business expansion is being financed and new projects are on the drawing board. The fact that corporations have hoarded cash and are ready to expand is a positive sign to me, but the last thing I want is to see Congress create a crisis by shutting down the government and providing our bond holders with an excuse to think we can’t govern ourselves.
Shaun,
What a fascinating post. I’ve re-read it several times, and I can’t find where you took a position that upset Mike — it seems like an insightful analysis of BOTH ads.
If one wanted to learn more about the art and science of things like data-driven microtargeting and expressive choice theory (since, indeed, most of it did go over my head), do you have any suggestions (book or website)?
It is amazing that not one of you conservatives have anything to say about what happened before Jan 20, 2009. It would appear that you think that George Bush’s face should be embedded on MT Rushmore. George Bush is the one that dug us into a hole that we are recovering from. I don’t see much difference between Jan 20, 2009 and FDR’s inauguration after the term of Herbert Hoover who also dug a hole that took years to dig out from.
Billy –
I did a post on Bearing Drift a few months back that highlighted the GOP’s use of video. Sadly, I’m in a bit of a rush and having a hard time finding it now. With a little bit of Googling, I’m sure you can dig something up on how metrics are being used in video.
As for expressive choice theory, there is a great book by Alexander Scheussler entitled A Logic of Expressive Choice:
http://books.google.com/books?id=60CoGvHcJQIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=alexander+schuessler+a+logic+of+expressive+choice&source=bl&ots=srrrPbybcc&sig=HPgNpQsbnIlJPR54zCk7Yn8zjpk&hl=en&ei=_jKbTc7WKojqgQfal6iVBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Enjoy!
Thanks Shaun!
Louis — if it makes you feel any better, I’m a conservative, and I don’t think that George W. Bush should be on Mt. Rushmore. Anyway, once Reagan is added, I doubt there will be enough room.
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