One Canadian’s Perspective on the US Presidential Election
Posted in politics on 07. Oct, 2008
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Since I had the right to vote, I have viewed politics from afar. Politics have never really interested me in the least, mainly because I observed it as run-around and empty promises. I have found it hard to follow, or keep interested in laws and bills, campaigns or slam ads. Politics is just not my forte.
However, with the recent presidential election going on right now in the United States, (yes, I am completely disregarding the upcoming Canadian election) I cannot help but stick my nose in this business, and here is why. It is pop culture if it’s anything.
Coming from a pop culture background, I am feeding upon all the spoofs and satires that are appearing in the media. I may not know much about US politics, but I certainly know that not many people are taking the election seriously.
Take for example the song that Wil.i.am put out using Barack Obama’s speech. This instantly sent Obama into the pop culture stratosphere, and he had nothing to do with the making or distribution of the song.
I was surprised as you were that Jo Biden was selected as the VP running mate over Hilary Clinton, because quite frankly, I assumed she was a shoe-in.
John McCain claimed that Obama was only a celebrity, compared him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. What was the rebuttal? Paris Hilton creating her own mock campaign message that, like Obama, kicked up his pop culture credibility another notch.
Then, there is Sarah Palin, who is almost like a parody of herself; unintentionally funny and often times tragic. Her public speaking ability is laughable; her debating skills even worse. It was McCain who accused Obama of being a celebrity, but that has come back to bite him on the ass, as Palin is the celebrity. The selection of Palin as his running mate was intentionally sensational. Palin was literally plucked from obscurity and thrown into real world politics by McCain who (in a vain attempt) is trying to appeal to the female voter.
Palin has instantly become a pop culture icon, which has taken away any credibility she may have had. She is on the cover of gossip magazines as a result of her 17 year-old daughter’s pregnancy. She is being mocked on Pundit Kitchen. Most notably, Tina Fey’s offers herhilarious (and dead on) impression of the VP candidate on Saturday Night Live.
Being popular (or infamous) with the mainstream media does not qualify someone to be in charge of something very important, like say, co-running a country. I am finding it a mixture of hilarious and tragic that people are in awe of this woman. She has displayed in her Katie Couric interview that she cannot answer a simple question like “what magazines did you read?”. Or in the VP debate, where she selected the questions she wanted to answer by backtracking and speaking about things she was more comfortable debating. For me, warning bells are going off, and flags are going up. I do not know whether to laugh at the US population or be embarrassed for it.
I didn’t write this to attempt to sway voters, because my say means nothing. I can’t vote in your election. I would just suggest really listening to what each candidate is saying, asking, or promising. Listen to how they speak. Is it inspiring? Can you see that person in office for the next four years? Vote with an educated mind, not because a celebrity does a pretty good impression or because another is more popular amongst your age demographic. This time around, it really does matter.
