The Celebticians: Obama & Sarkozy
If Paris Hilton started the term celebutante, i.e., short for celebrity / debutante for the uninitiated in entertainment lingo, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France actually invented a new genre of world leaders – the celebtician, which is as you guess, short of CELEBRITY and POLITICIAN. And guess what, Barack Obama’s rock star status right now makes him another celebtician in the making.
Ironically, the controversial political ad by John McCain entitled Celeb that compared Barack Obama with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears solidified this new genre in politics.
Being French, my father and mother were surprised, even a little bit appalled when Nicolas Sarkozy married Carla Bruni, not because they don’t like Carla Bruni (they actually like her a lot), but because to them the French President should be ‘father-like’ to the country, not a poster boy.
Still, because they are French, they also understood Sarkozy’s rebellion on the image of a French President and his need to re-invent the image of the Office of the President. O la la!
And now, Barack Obama, whether by accident or by design is becoming a celebtician, something that political pundits and campaign managers on both camps have to think about.
Personally, I do not understand Napster preoccupation with this new ad by John McCain. I think it is creative. On the other hand, I see Napster’s point in saying that Paris Hilton and Britney Spears were just insulted by Andrea Mitchell by insinuating that they are dumb blondes.
On the other hand, I believe it is John McCain’s camp that made a mistake in this one. By comparing Barack Obama with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, they just confirmed Obama’s effect in pop culture. And we all know how powerful pop culture is.
In short, the backlash might not be on being accused on running a dirty campaign but rather on Obama being more endearing to the youth, and that means he will win the election and McCain will lose. Well, it’s still a long time till November. A lot of things can happen.