Letter to the editor

Certainly, Obama’s hyperconservative detractors will have their cataclysmic prophecies frustrated should his campaign render success in the upcoming election. But, no matter how much Ethan Dodge wishes it were the case, not all voters skeptical of Obama’s message view him as the herald of our nation’s demise. In reality, only a minority of people subscribe to this asinine perspective — and those who do seem to have more in common with the Obama faithful than they do with the more mainstream naysayer.

Both segments seem to believe the same, crucial premise: that Obama can drastically change this country. But how? Neither side seems entirely sure, and from the looks of Ethan Dodge’s article, neither is he. Yes, Obama is an excellent orator. Yes, he is persuasive. Yes, his campaign has been filled with idealistic slogan after idealistic slogan.

But should we elect a president based on the sentimentality his speechwriters are able to inspire?

Obama has been able to rally vociferous support from college-bound consumers, but this is a decidedly easy demographic to market to. If there is a group of people on this earth more bent on appearing fashionable — be it socially, intellectually or politically — advertisers have yet to identify it. We are whores for looking cool, and nothing is cooler than Obama right now. That past campaigns have been so immensely unsuccessful in targeting such fish in a barrel speaks volumes on the obliviousness and inefficiency of American politics. That Obama
has succeeded in marketing where other politicians failed is a marvelous indication of his opponents’ capacity to hire a mess of incompetents on for their PR staffs.

So how is Obama going to change this country? We’ll still have a nauseatingly wealthy man in office. His popularity will still have been built on the methods used by marketing agencies the world over. Cheap ideals will still be pranced out on the catwalk in place of honest, pragmatic discussion of policy. All that seems to have changed is the target audience and the efficacy of the ad.

The American government will still wade through a bureaucratic quagmire the likes of which history could never have imagined. It will still support the interests of the world’s corporate kings, whose wealth and power grease the cogs of capitalism — all the while proclaiming an interest in the salvation of the common man. What Obama has changed is that, even discounting the bumper stickers and pins, we finally have a presidential candidate we want to buy. Finally, a president so accessibly fashionable that even a fresh-out-of-high school conservative knows that buying Obama is the perfect accessory for his iPhone and Diesels.