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Can't see the 'ShareThis' icon? Reload your page view by pressing Shift and clicking Refresh at the same time.There's a fashion movement in the office today - Barack Obama T-shirts. And I'm talking about young people. Very young people, like under-twenty young people.
On Facebook, I'm bombarded with my friend's pro-Obama Facebook status updates: 'Jane hopes everyone 'Ba-ROCKS' the vote today'. 'Adam wants Americans to get it right this year - VOTE OBAMA!' or 'Renee isn't worried, Mr. Obama will take it in a landslide'.
See a trend here? I think that's the key word - 'trend'.
Always a bit cynical, I tested a couple of my friends. "Why vote Obama?" I asked one of my West coast cousins. "Because I don't like George Bush", she replied. So in other words, she watches Saturday Night Live. I asked another twenty-something roadie here at the station sporting an Obama shirt why he'd choose Obama over McCain, and he replied that Obama had better policies. "Name one," I asked him in response. The poor kid turned red and started giggling before he was helped out by his older colleague who said that McCain was "like George Bush".
Anyone who thinks that pop culture, that Obama being portrayed as a "rock star" isn't relevant - well, I think it may have just played a major role in possibly electing the next U.S. President. If it doesnt, then why did Sarah Palin and John McCain both see fit to make the time during their campaigns to respond to SNL's attacks by appearing on the show more than once? To appear 'cool', that's why. SNL was making them so brutally 'uncool' that they were left with little choice.
As the Republican's popularity continued to plummet to new depths, the trend towards all things Obama continued to rise - which would be fine if it was thanks to informed choices. My suspicion, however, is that my cousin and my colleague are not alone in their 'reasons' for hopping on the Obamania Bandwagon. Namely, they don't have a reason, other than that its trendy.
One wonders if Saturday Night Live has been right all along...that this is what it all boils down to after all - badly written satire.
What saddens me the most is not who wins or loses the American election, but that all these Canadians who became so enraptured by it, particularly the younger generations, likely paid little to no attention to the election that just went down weeks ago in their own backyard. So do we need to up the political cool quotient, or quit dumbing it down?
Tammy Robert is the Executive Producer of 'The John Gormley Live Show' - listen live every weekday morning from 8.30am - 12.30pm on NewsTalk 650 or NewsTalk 980.
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I find it funny that the people who support the right think that people are being somehow tricked into supporting Obama. That simple isn't true. They support him because he is clearly the strongest candidate.
I'm not saying that there isn't some people who support Obama strictly because he is the more "hip" of two the candidates. But those few aren't the reason why he is going to be the next president. He is going to win because regular people are going to vote for the best candidate and they to do not stubbornly cling to a specific party.
Obama will make the better president, period! Those on the right are either too dumb to see that or too stubborn to admit it. It's clear that Ms. Roberts falls in to this category.
Trendy...exactly
I think I have an idea who your two idiot colleagues were who couldn't think of a single policy of the Chosen One....It's now 8:43 p.m. and I am already sick of watching the teleivision coverage..the two networks, NBC and CNN seem to be falling over each other projecting winners...which to me is idiotic because in most states they are projecting, less than 50 percent of the precincts have reported, which means not all the votes have been counted. I hope to hell McCain wins, just to see the look of shock and disbelief on Oprah's face. But if you thought the Rodney King riots were something, just wait to see Chicago burn if Obama loses.
I was thinking the same
I was thinking the same thing as the Canadian election went on.
Some of my friends were more involved in the US election than the one they could actually vote in. On debate night, they watched the US one instead of the Canadian one because it was more entertaining.
Do Canadian actors and singers have to start a "Rock the Vote" campaign like a few years ago south of the border? It obviously worked.
About as well said , as I've
About as well said , as I've seen it people get a mania and want to be seen as with the crowd.
Last night was a vote against Bush as much as it was for Obama, Palin on the ticket did not help bring in the fiscal conservative, but then again no one governs fiscally conservative anyways Harper included
G
You don't need policies to
You don't need policies to win an election. It's all about image. You need to be the coolest candidate. Look at what happened here. Steven Harper certainly isn't cool, but he seemed much cooler than "Professor" Dion, and look how that turned out. It's about 80 percent image and how you're portrayed in the media, and maybe 15 percent policy.
Thank you tammy
This is the exact impression I have come up with as well.
I didn't always get the bush answer tho (just mostly). The other reason I was given for voting for him was "he stands for change". I am still trying to figger out why I was called a racist for my response: "Change? From what... to what?" The only reason I can come up with is because the person didn't actually have an answer for it. But maybe one of your readers more enlightened than me can explain the reasoning.
McCain and Palin ran a very
McCain and Palin ran a very dirty campaign, thank God Americans didn't fall for it.
I didn't see anyone wearing
I didn't see anyone wearing a Stephen Harper shirt during the last election but I have a Chretien Jacket from the 90's and a huge black and white Trudeau button from the seventies. I also have three Obama shirts, one my sister bought in LA the other I purchased at the Colette store in Paris, France this summer. The third shirt I picked up along with buttons from some guy with a bad toupee hocking rip offs in Washington DC in June and I have an OBAMA BIDEN lawn sign a gorgeous young campaign coach gave me after I worked with a group in Seattle door knocking. Trend - whatever. History - yep.
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