McCain shines light on his own celeb status
At some level we tend to admire people with drive and ambition. The truly successful often become, in the vernacular and in the press, the ones we “love to hate.” Who can deny that Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, or Bill Cosby is a celebrity? One of the quickest, surest paths to celebrity status is via politics, particularly if the person turns out to have a fallible enough moment to fall prey to a scandal with overtones of sexual impropriety. We love to see the “mighty” brought to an everyday level.
Let’s face it: sex sells. A money scandal pales compared to a juicy, salacious story involving a celebrity – just ask Senator Larry Craig. The organizations that provide us “news” are driven by their need to pay for their staff and buildings just like any other business. They benefit from increasingly timely, now near-instantaneous feedback about what people who use their “service” want to learn about. Higher ratings translate rapidly into higher advertising revenues, and so they cater to the whims of whoever drives their audience share up.
So Bill Clinton squirmed very publicly in the limelight while people grasped after details of his indiscretion with Monica Lewinsky, a mistake they are both surely very tired of hearing about, while John Edwards and John McCain deal with their own past extra-marital sexual dalliances. Is it any wonder the press hunts for dirt on Michelle or Barack Obama? We expect ambitious politicians to pander, to say what the current audience wants to hear, such as when Senator McCain recently suggested his wife might compete in the topless “Miss Buffalo Chip” contest in Sturgis. We also typically hold politicians to a high standard of conduct, which is precisely why even an old affair can destroy a political career, (although McCain got a pass on that outrageous objectification of his spouse in the press. Boys will be boys?) It might’ve ruined him in an early bid for elected office, but now everybody knows his name, and so he’s allowed greater latitude accordingly.
The truth, as Karl Rove so famously proved, is that politicians with enough celebrity can get away with lies if they will just apologize, even disingenuously. It works, because some people will hear the story and make a snap judgment not to support the target, and not pay attention to the apology later. Say whatever you want, claim your opponent lacks substance or eats babies, it seems you can always – always – say your behavior was just part of politics as usual, apologize with a well-coached smile, and move on. What would have happened if Obama, asked about McCain’s trip to Sturgis, had suggested Mrs. McCain might compete in that same topless contest?
Is Barack Obama a big enough celebrity to weather that sort of storm?
Of course not. So why is McCain so intent on labeling Obama as a celebrity?
John McCain said he’s proud of his ads comparing Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. He wants you to think you’re just caught up by a “celebrity” and don’t really want change in this country. If that’s the sort of leadership you want for the U.S.A., if giving a consummate D.C. insider even more power – and celebrity – matches your view of where this country should go for the next four years, you should vote for him in November.
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