Quick Thoughts on Obama and His Communications Team

Barack Obama has truly revolutionized the political campaign. He has recreated FDR’s fireside chats with his weekly You Tube addresses, taken Internet fund-raising beyond anyone’s imagination, and is accepting the public’s policy ideas and discourse into his administration through his website at change.gov. He is reaching out to all Americans by email, text, and live addresses – all in real-time – and all through your portable PC. This is high-level democracy, literally, almost at the speed light. But, it is not simply the technology that transforms a campaign; it is the way you communicate with the technology.

In the modern campaign, it is becoming harder and harder to distinguish between simple campaign rhetoric and coherent policy ideas. This is partly because the goal post in elected politics keeps changing with ever-increasing technology. Policy debates have been limited to 30 second sound bites intended to disturb the couch-slumber of the voting citizen. Presented enough times, these sound bites really do make the difference. Reagan had "morning in America," H.W. Bush had "read my lips," Bubba Clinton had "bridge to the future," Dubya Bush had "passionate conservatism," and Hillary Clinton had her 3am "red phone" call. However, I cannot recall what Obama’s catch line was. In most of his commercials he covered Bush, McCain, global warming, oil, jobs, and foreign policy -almost all in one breath. During George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign, I really thought that the modern campaign had begun. Email, cell phones, the Internet, and Al Gore’s "lockbox" had only just made its way into the political lexicon. Howard Dean’s use of the Internet as a fundraising tool opened up infinite possibilities for politicians as 541 and PAC groups opened the door for more citizens with individual interests to become involved in the process. Now, in retrospect, I believe the eight, technological, campaign years of George W. Bush were only a hiccup to the coming modern campaign and communications apparatus. We have now entered into the era of the Myspace and Facebook campaigning.

Barack Obama has truly revolutionized the political campaign. He has recreated FDR’s fireside chats with his weekly You Tube addresses, taken Internet fund-raising beyond anyone’s imagination, and is accepting the public’s policy ideas and discourse into his administration through his website at change.gov. He is reaching out to all Americans by email, text, and live addresses – all in real-time – and all through your portable PC. This is high-level democracy, literally, almost at the speed light. But, it is not simply the technology that transforms a campaign; it is the way you communicate with the technology.

The Obama team are geniuses at communications and they are led by a supreme communicator. Our new President is not only intelligent but probably the most gifted speaker of the age – yes, I believe he is more captivating than Bill Clinton or Reagan. His style and spoken word is filled with intense thought and hope. But the brilliance of the campaign was in linking the Obama presidency to Abraham Lincoln. It is no coincidence that the Obama communication’s team began to wrap Obama in the Lincoln legacy from the beginning. He is the fulfillment of Abraham Lincoln’s act in freeing the slaves. A man of modest means grows up not in a log cabin but Indonesia to become a lawyer who chooses community over riches… in Illinois, a member of the state senate – sound familiar. It was not a hard sell for Obama to embrace the messianic image of the new savior of the Union. Obama became obsessed with the notion of a "team of rivals," found in Doris Kerns Godwin’s book, "A Team of Rivals," which focuses on Lincoln’s political genius. This team of rivals would later result in his vice-president (Joe Biden) and secretary of state (Hillary Clinton). Taking Lincoln’s train-ride into D.C. before the inauguration, swearing the Presidential oath on Lincoln’s Bible, and trying to appear non-partisan in a "there is more than unites us than divides us" sort of way were all designed to give the American people the expectation that a divided America was once again being saved by Lincoln’s legacy – Barack Obama.

Absolutely brilliant.

There are complications with assuming the mantle of Lincoln. Yes, Lincoln freed the slaves and saved the Union but he also suspended habeas corpus, limited freedoms, presided over the costliest war – in lives – in American history, and then was assassinated.

I am not saying Barack Obama will suspend freedoms to save our Union but I would caution on relying on one person too much. They tend to disappoint. I am happy to say that President Obama has definitely tamped down these messianic expectations by calling on all Americans to service, championing self-reliance, personal responsibility, and cautioning that our "road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep… there will be setbacks and false starts."

Now, back to communications.

The modern political life is a constant campaign. Political animals constantly reach out for attention, affection, and nurture… this will not change. Lincoln, Roosevelt, and only a handful of others have really risen above the expectations of their citizens. Barack Obama has set the stage to become a great president. His brilliant oratory, temperament, wise choices in cabinet officials, communications team, and wisdom will combine with a perfect storm of technology that is able to instantly reach out to most citizens in the United States and the world. Only President Bush and Clinton have had even an inkling of the communications ability that President Obama now enjoys. History will not be kind to those leaders who have been given much and accomplished little. Let’s hope President Obama stays on the path he is on and once again, hopefully, he will save our Union. Then, he will truly be able to claim the legacy of Lincoln.

Obama’s team – so far – has been impressive.