king obama
by Emma Onom
Published: August 25, 2008
Congratulations to Sen. Barack Obama for choosing Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as a running mate. For a guy who is trying to break his rock-star status and be a man of the people, Obama sure picked the right way to announce his decision.
Obama was clever. He decided he would announce his decision in a text message to his supporters. It was a rather transparent attempt to try and look like it was his supporters that matter, not the press. But Obama surely knew that any concerned party would sign up for his text messages. So it was pretty clear what he was trying to do was announce the decision the cool way, a way no one had thought of. The rock-star way.
Sure enough, as Friday approached, reporters across the country were constantly checking their cell phones for new texts, just as Obama wanted. Then, as though he wanted to avoid the news cycle, Obama sent the text out at 3 a.m. That’s right. Three o’clock in the very, very early morning. How arrogant do you have to be to assume your captive audience would be thrilled to see that early-morning text?
Sure, the news was probably up on CNN at 3:01 a.m., but who besides a rock star would expect their loyal fans to jump for joy at that ungodly hour. A few people may have, but I for one am glad I didn’t care to find out as soon as Obama decided to tell the world. I can wait until morning, because I am nobody’s groupie.
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August 25th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Actually, the text message went out at 3 a.m. because CNN broke the news early when it learned of Obama’s VP choice. The Obama camp was planning on texting people at 8 a.m.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I was excited to get my text, no matter what time of night it was at.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Sending the VP announcement makes sense. I don’t think texting is any more ‘hip’ than e-mail, and it’s a logical way to inform his grass-roots following on an individual basis. We may see future candidates do the same thing.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
You may not think it’s “hip,” but I’m certain Obama does.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
“Three o’clock in the very, very early morning. How arrogant do you have to be to assume your captive audience would be thrilled to see that early-morning text” … Three o’clock IS very early in the morning. But, it shows he’s ready for that 3 a.m. phone call, and it likely won’t take him six rings to pick it up.
August 26th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
polited says:
August 25th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
You may not think it’s “hip,” but I’m certain Obama does.
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Is that bad?
August 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
If you’re going to text your VP nomination at 3AM why not go all the way and announce it on Radio Disney? No, better yet, why not have Obama and Miley Cyrus jump out of a cake holding a sign that reads “Biden’s Like, totally my Veep!” on Hannah Montana?
August 26th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
@Mark:
Nope - but it is fun to watch politicians dabble in hip trends.
August 26th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Diego: Children can’t vote.
I know you’re being sarcastic but seriously, what’s your point?
August 26th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Yeah, it’s so unfortunate to have a president who knows what text means and can actually do it. We should have a president who’s completely out of touch with Americans, one who, by his own admission, doesn’t know how to email and has seldom been on the Internet. That would be great. That would be 1988, but what the heck.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Is hip really what we’re looking for nowadays? Is the job description “must text and blog?” I suppose it would cut down on all that boring diplomatic stuff if Obama and Osama could just text each other on whether to attack the United States. From what I’ve heard, visiting Iraq only once in your life is ok if you’ve been texting the troops your well-wishes.
August 26th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
haha Emma, that was a good one.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Mark,
The single greatest criticism of Obama is his youth and inexperience. For that very reason he picked Biden, a boring but thoroughly seasoned running mate. However, instead of announcing his VP candidate through a press conference or at least through a press realease (like a grown up,) he chose to send a mass text. But he didn’t just text his announcement, he did it at 3AM. You know, like seniors in High School do when they get to level 13 on Super Mario Brothers. Or how college kids do when they finish their last joint and want to send an inquiry to their next door neighbor, “Dude do you have any Cheetohs?”
Some may say it’s a wise move to show how hip and plugged in he is; unfortunately, the people who would be impressed by the texting capabilities of a candidate are already voting for Obama. He won the texter vote the minute he declared his candidacy. What is still yet to be determined is if he can win over blocs of voters who actually vote.
So, if he’s going to use modern technology to appeal to a totally irrelevant voting block, why not go all the way? Miley Circus is way bigger than texting and equally irrelevant.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:09 am
I guess the anti- “young and hip” comments are now moot given McCain’s VP pick. So much for picking people based on their qualifications and ability to meet the job description. That “one” visit to Iraq certainly looks better than none. Though, I suppose being “Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard” and being mayor of a town with 9000 people makes up for a complete lack of knowledge or awareness on foreign policy, which comes with being a U.S. Senator. If only McCain’s “single, greatest criticsm” of Obama wasn’t his youth and inexperience. I bet Palin knows how to text.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:12 am
I’ll gladly pile on Palin, but after she pulls an adolescent: like shoplifing, putting gauges in her ears, posting suggestive photos of herself on MySpace, or texting a crucial announcement to supporters at 3AM.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Wow.
Now this discussion is American politics at its best. Instead of debating the motive and implications of a text message maybe we should be more concerned with whose energy plan poses the best future for the American economy, or who will make the best decisions with regard to Iraq, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. I’m not trying to get all uppity here, but I just can’t bring myself to enter a discussion about the tech-savviness of our presidential candidates.
Wait, I think I just did…
Dang it.