Beyond The Music, Fireworks, & Michael McDonald

Who else saw the rock concert in Denver last night? You know the one with over 80,000 screaming fans in a football stadium cheering, dancing, singing, and screaming until they lost their voices. Stevie Wonder and Micheal McDonald performed and electrified the crowd. And oh yea … Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech to officially be the candidate for the Democrat party.

There was lots of news and media coverage and for a week it was all Democrats all the time. It was interesting to see but I wonder how many people watched, but didn’t actually listen. I wonder how many tuned in to see the popping camera flashes, the famous musicians sing, X-President Bubba Clinton with his signature “trust me” half smile, and all the rest of the hoopla. Let’s be honest, there really was nothing else on TV to watch anyway.

And when Obama finally gave his speech Thursday night it was delivered well. It hit on the all the high notes. It hammered his opponent John McCain as everyone expected it would. It looked and sounded completely “Presidential”. But will it be remembered in a week? The general public has an incredibly short memory. Within a few days the only thing on the news will be stories about the hurricanes that are heading towards the Gulf Coast. Images of Katrina will be dusted off as everyone worries about another disaster.

Shortly after the Republican convention will kick off and there will be more speeches, stars, and words. Lots and lots of more words, cheering, fireworks, balloons, and music. More of the same and a week of “must see” TV.

But in the end is anyone beyond the core supporters actually really listening to what is being said by EITHER candidate? Or will it ultimately come down to who the people think is better looking, or seems more trustworthy on the boob tube, or is one color or another, or is older or younger, or who seems “nicer”. The popularity contest that is the Presidency of the United States has changed in the past 30-40 years in ways that are still being realized and understood. The power of Bill Clinton playing the sax on MTV, small town hall meetings that were once intimate are now televised and seen in every corner of the globe, and the fact that every waking move by anyone even remotely associated with a campaign is dissected on the Internet blogs and message boards endlessly, has changed everything. Political contests have reached media overload levels that have never been seen before because they just did not exist in the past. All of which blurs the issues and in the end makes many of them not the real reasons people vote one way or another.

What is more important to the average non big city voter? Issues about the economy they don’t really understand or what the candidates wife is wearing that day on TV? Scary thought.