Posted on 10/30/2012 3:35:48 PM PDT by x
Shakespeare was right when he wrote, “What’s past is prologue.” The Bard’s quote provides a solid road map for predicting how Obama will run his presidency if re-elected. During his 2008 campaign and subsequent four years in office there have been three iterations defining the man and his approach to governance.
Obama 1.0 is the mythic figure and the now crumbling foundation for understanding how the president was presented by the media and perceived by the public. Candidate Obama circa 2008 was calm, collected and cool — smooth as silk. The mainstream media and much of America were captivated by the multicultural heritage of the new phenom on the political scene.
Newness and uniqueness were a large part of what drove Obama into the Oval Office. These characteristics were combined with a positive theme, “Yes we can” and a nonpartisan pitch that appealed to a country divided by military and political wars for over a decade. The rhetoric and communication style of the president was a model of political persuasion. Media critic Jack Shafer wrote of Obama, “The voice works like aerosolized Paxil.”
The Obama 1.0 persona reinforced his popularity. His style was taken directly from the Marshall McLuhan playbook. He was the ultimate pop star in the era of celebrity. Chris Lehane called it “the paparazzi presidency.” Michelle Obama, the daughters and even Bo the dog completed the perfect first family package.
The battle for Obama- care and the president’s use of brass-knuckle hardball politics leading to the debacle of the 2010 midyear elections lurched the president into Obama 2.0. Like the pulling back of the curtain showing the Wizard of Oz who wasn’t a wizard at all, weaknesses that were glossed over during the meteoric rise of the president became visible to the voters.
The post-2010 election Obama was frequently seen as aloof, superior and huffy when challenged. The president morphed into the lecturer-in-chief. He rarely interacted with the press and became addicted to the POTUS teleprompter and appearances on popular TV talk shows.
Obama 2.0 was thin-skinned, sarcastic and defensive. The man who previously used big speeches to win big political points had been defanged. Obama lost the ability to rally America by using the bully pulpit. Every “major address” fell flat, exacerbating a sense of frustration that emanated from the West Wing.
Campaign 2012 has shown Obama 2.5 illustrating the frame that will be the president’s second term. The tone and tenor of his debate and campaign appearances have belittled the office of the presidency and the man himself. Broad inspirational pronouncements have given way to second-rate mocking jabs and out-of-kilter jokes. Arrogance and superiority, Obama’s least appealing character traits, have come to dominate his presentation style while on the campaign trail.
Playing to the hard-core base of the Democratic Party, the president has moved away from a conversation with independent voters. Playing the fear, gender and class warfare cards is effective for rallying the heart of the Democratic constituency but is asking for trouble when consensus is needed for solving the major issues facing America.
Which leads to predicting Obama 3.0, the president in a second term. A victory for the incumbent in an insular White House will magnify the worst tendencies of the president surrounded by a palace guard that reinforces the superiority of its occupant. No grudge will go unsettled, and campaigns create a plethora of slights.
Obama will continue to shield himself from the press and surround himself with a shrinking cadre of adoring celebrities and sycophants. More teleprompters will be added to the phalanx that defends the podium from spontaneity. Many TV viewers will be led to believe that the president is moonlighting as the sidekick to Jay, Dave or the women of “The View.”
Unlike Bill Clinton (who appears currently in the role of Obama’s BFF), the president will not tack to the center in an attempt to legislate and co-opt opponents. Vitriol will be the mode of the second term, and the Republicans will be more than happy to keep up their end of the grand bargain, by obstructing any and all proposals from the White House.
Large numbers of Americans who grudgingly pulled the lever for Obama will abandon their soft support of him and move towards “unfavorable” in their opinion. The result will be a hardening of the bunker mentality by the president and his staff, who will increasingly consist of second-rate partisan talent.
The spiral of the decline of Obama 3.0 will lead some of the press to abandon their support. Republicans, expert at grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory, will only temporarily benefit their cause.
By 2016 America will be ready for a new, new messiah.
Maybe. But maybe Casey Stengel will again be proven right when he said, “Never make predictions, especially about the future.”
“Never make predictions, especially about the future.” -Niels Bohr
This article just brought to my mind the fact that not one stupid gimmicky trite vapid slogan has come from the Romney campaign (as far as I know). If one has, it’s certainly been escapable, unlike “Yes we can”. I’ll never be able to hear that phrase as long as I live without cringing.
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