The Gimmick Man

Search the internet for Presidential campaign news and you will immediately find many references coming from the Obama campaign about the “gimmicks” John McCain supports. Obama’s camp portrays McCain’s views on the energy crisis and potential offshore oil drilling as gimmicky. He believes that his opposition has no real answers to the issues. But of course, he has a failsafe, surefire way to bring “change” to our daily lives and economic dependence upon foreign oil, among other things. There are all kinds of words floated during a long Presidential campaign and gimmick is one of the more tame labels to be stamped on the forehead of the opposition. However, I’m not quite sure that Barack Obama has any right whatsoever to call anyone gimmicky.

One of the greatest tricks of the trade in running for President in the United States has become writing a book prior to running which will establish media frenzy and affix a bright spotlight on the up and coming politician. John McCain has five books published under his belt. The first coming in August 1999 (he announced his running for President in September 1999) and the last coming in August 2007 (we already knew he was running at this time). McCain is no stranger to this gimmick. Where does Obama stand? Unless you have lived with no access to television, newspaper, or radio, you probably know he released his first book, “Audacity of Hope,” in October 2006. Barack announced his running for President in May, 2007 (his book has sold well over one million copies). Gimmick number one, publishing a book to instigate attention and hope, tied 1 to 1.

Let’s go to another tried and true method of “gimmickry.” I’m not sure how old everyone is out there or how much they paid attention to the Arsenio Hall show “back in the day,” but one of the greatest highlights from his show involved Presidential candidate Bill Clinton “performing” on his show. Clinton, in June of 1992, utilized the popularity of the Arsenio show with younger voters to reach a demographic which helped him win the 1992 Presidential election. Gimmicky yes, but highly effective. Has anything happened comparable to this in our current campaign? Why yes, and I happened to watch it live. Barack Obama, “danced” his way to daytime stardom on the quite popular “Ellen” show. McCain was given the opportunity to dance on Ellen but chose to walk instead. Ellen, 2008’s version of the Arsenio show, played a part in putting Obama ahead 2 to 1 in the gimmick race.

Moving on to point number three, Obama has recently pursued the ideology that if Americans were more efficient with our automobiles, that we could affect our energy crisis at home. There is not one single person I have read or talked to that disputes efficiency creating savings when it comes to gas mileage, it is true. But, to base a portion of your national energy plan on efficiency of tire pressures and car maintenance is absurd. Sure, there will be savings, but not enough to create the drop of multiple percentage points in demand on 20 million barrels of oil per day the United States currently uses. On the other hand, Obama calls McCain’s support of potential off shore drilling a gimmick. Tire pressure gauges and Jiffy Lube stops are in fact a gimmick. Off shore drilling, while not the best solution, is most definitely not a gimmick. The current standings are Obama 3 and McCain 1.

My last look at gimmickry in our current campaign involves something just announced. Barack Obama, the likely next President of the United States, announced that he will inform the world of his most important political choice since his decision to run for President via text messages on cell phones or an email. There is a nice sign up form on his site which allows you to input your contact information to, and I quote, “Be the First to Know. Barack is about to choose a running mate, and he wants you to know first. You have helped build this movement from the bottom up, and Barack wants you to be part of this important moment. “ Great use of technology which the demographic he must win utilizes as a lifeline to their world. Viral and gimmicky, maybe this should be worth double gimmick points. Have you heard of any such information coming from the McCain campaign headquarters? No. We are now up to Obama 4, McCain 1 on the gimmick score.

If I took the time, I could continue this article focused on campaign gimmickry and I’m sure McCain’s number would increase. But I do not think he could ever “hope” to surpass the effective gimmick utilization Obama has seemed to have perfected. I’ve learned to apply the old saying, albeit crude, of “He who smelt it, dealt it” to politicians. If you hear someone criticizing the opponent on something, more than likely, he is doing the same thing and probably did it first. The idea is to deflect attention to the opponent and away from you. Get all of the hot button issues focused on the other guy so you can join the side promising change. We all know that politicians promise change in every single campaign, that’s nothing new. That is just another gimmick. Politicians want change, but only change which makes them more important. The change we need is the exact opposite. Our politicians need, and deserve, less importance.

Obama has flaunted his ability to verbally defuse attacks and statements about his campaign (see the Reverend Wright fiasco here). He has chosen to deflect the gimmick tag by stamping McCain and his campaign with it, often. As I mentioned before, I don’t think Obama has the right accuse anyone of using gimmicks when the majority of his campaign and media time is littered with gimmicks. What does that say for us, the American public? Everyone assumes Obama will be our next President and rightfully so considering the data overwhelmingly shows he is ahead in almost every poll imaginable. But, where is the substance to his campaign? We all know our public votes with very little research into the candidates and media campaigns largely affect voting segments (swift boat anyone?). Gimmicks are easy, they are effective, and they hit the mark every time with the demographic you are shooting for.

Barack’s winning of the 2008 Presidential election revolves around securing the votes of the younger generation and his gimmicks are aimed squarely at them. We hear about McCain being “old” and “more of the same.” We hear about Barack writing books hitting number one on the bestseller list and offering information via the latest technology and being “hip” on television. Tell me, what does any of that have to do with being President of the United States? I want someone who I can believe in, someone who has morals and ethics, someone we can depend on during a crisis. I don’t want a “He who smelt it, dealt it” President. I want someone who has the backbone to stand up for what is right for our country. The change we need is not political party change. We need real citizens running this country who would die for the United States because it is the right thing to do, and not lifelong trained politicians. Change we need, gimmicks we do not.