They’re THROUGH BEING COOL!
Like 1970s punk/1980s synthpop band Devo, Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani are throwing out what people expect from a candidate and are coming into popularity outside of people’s expectations. The big-name candidates should be Hillary Clinton and John McCain according to all previous wisdom, but for some reason Giuliani and Obama are on the tips of everyone’s tongues.
That’s because Clinton and McCain represent the Patrician class of this country. John McCain is a hero of the military tradition, coming from a military family and leading a military life. But the populist movement within the Republican Party doesn’t care for military heroes, they want a John Q. Public who has a powerful presence. That John Q. Public is metropolitan conservative Rudy Giuliani. Coming from New York City, Giuliani is a third generation immigrant with both policemen and criminals in his ancestry. He was given no head start and is the quintessence of “pulled up by his own bootstraps”. McCain, while a competent leader and a magnificent senator, simply doesn’t have the populist power that Giuliani does.
Obama is a similarly self-made man, whose story resonates with many in this nation. He had an absent father, leaving him with little knowledge of his own history. During his younger years he questioned his own identity and confronted the problems of a half African raised by whites. He openly admits to heavy drinking, marijuana use, and some occasional cocaine use. This kind of honesty is shocking - and some might say refreshing - after eight years of “I tried it once and never inhaled” and then eight more years of “Cocaine? Not uh!”
Meanwhile, Clinton is a former First Lady and daughter of a successful textile factory owner, upper class since she was born and steadily throughout her life. She simply does not have the populist credibility of Obama, despite her Oprah-esque feminist appeal. She seems too sanitary and does not come across as real as Obama.
Americans today are not looking for someone that seems better than themselves, they want a leader whom they can relate to. Because if they can relate to their leader, their leader can relate to them. African Americans and disenfranchised youths across the nation can seriously understand Obama, but not Clinton.
While America has traditionally loved a war hero, McCain cannot capture the hearts of all the people who have risen up or are trying to rise up from impoverished metropolitan areas, coming from questionable family history, to make something of themselves. Giuliani is what the Republican Party has been telling everyone to be for the last forty years.
American populism is on the rise, and if either Giuliani or Obama wins the Presidency, that will mark the end of the governmental monopoly of the American Patrician class.
News, United States, Republican Party, Democratic Party, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, 2008 Presidential Race
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:18 am
Well, Obama and Giuliani are my picks for each of the parties. I sort of agree with your premise that most people will pick a candidate that they feel they can relate to. People will vote for the candidate who has similar stances on the issues, but in order to get really excited about a candidate, some people need to feel that they can relate to them. This might explain in part why people are gravitating toward the “self-made man.”
But then again, there is the other side. Look at someone like Kennedy for instance. All of the Kennedys actually. They came from a wealthy family and they pretty much had everything handed to them financially. John F. Kennedy turned out to be one of the most popular presidents, while Robert Kennedy looked like a very promising candidate before his assassination. It’s someone like Kennedy who didn’t necessarily empathize with those living in poverty because he never was faced with it, but he definitely worked to help those who did face it. So I guess what I am saying is that it is not the past that makes a president likeable, but his promise of the future.
Having said that, I still think you have a valid point. Maybe I am underestimating the effect that the “self-made man” image has on popularity. Good post.
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:27 am
Well that is my point exactly. Normally we could never expect an admittedly former drug user to ever become President, and a man with a military pedigree like McCain would be an Eisenhower-like shoe-in. But the populism of American culture has begun to turn away from the Kennedys and towards the Obamas.
March 13th, 2007 at 7:58 am
It was definately an interesting read. The concept that America is ready for a drastic chance such as the candidates before us amazes me because the country has wanted change before but never actually put it into practice like this. Not knowing much on Obama I lean more towards Clinton and Guliani but the point you make is real and valid. After the last few years that we have had there has been more of a need for a drastic change to turn the coutnry around. Inside as well as internationally. Thanks for the read.