Barrack Hussein Obama, the 44th occupant of the worlds most powerful office, is currently the most recognizable man on earth. He is a new-media behemoth; a global superstar, with a telegenic face and a powerful rhetorical voice, reaching into (almost) every home in the connected world. In the words of the elite-media he is the world’s “first wired president.”
In the past, president’s simply made occasional radio (and later television) addresses to the nation. Their pictures appeared once or twice a week in the daily newspaper. Today Obama makes YouTube broadcasts to the world and masterfully marshals his agenda with the shrewd use of social-media.
US Presidential campaigns are now won (and lost) on MySpace, YouTube and Facebook. This global media reach and the ability to micromanage the content of a political message are incredibly potent tools for influence and persuasion. Free from direct reliance on traditional media outlets the Obama administration is now poised to ‘reboot democracy.’ The change in the relationship between an electorate and its leader that this signifies seems set to define the tone of his presidency.
Obama’s election campaign raised tens of millions of dollars online. He famously text messaged his supporters with news of his Vice-Presidential pick, placed campaign adds into videogames and (immediately after his election) began a digital outreach effort to further expand the largest network ever seen in political history.
Obama’s success in reaching young internet savvy consumers and in shaping the context in which they viewed his candidacy, was perhaps the single most important defining factor in his election victory. Members of the Obama team have already spoken openly about their plans to use the vast electronic database they complied during his campaign to influence the electorate further and to drive his policy goals forward during his first term in office.
It is notable that some of the graphic designs and logos that appeared during the campaign itself displayed an unfortunate tendency to portray Obama with an almost Christlike quality. Religious and reverential overtones abounded, with Obama often seen sporting various degrees of a halo, or else surrounded by an otherworldy ethereal glow. Surprisingly, this was never questioned or even parodied by a largely compliant media.
This trend has shown little sign of abating since his inauguration and thus far the mainstream media seems to have largely abandoned its traditional role of watchdog in favor of cheerleader. Whilst this honeymoon period is unlikely to last indefinitely, it is odd to see such a degree of complicity from those who normally view politicians with a healthy degree of suspicion.
To some extent this demonstrates the degree to which the Obama machine has been able to successfully set its own agenda. The media seem (for now), to have granted the new president a free-pass, perhaps unwilling to taint a candidate who has been regularly compared to both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
There is no doubt that Obama demonstrates both a cool detachment under pressure and a rare ability to inspire with rhetoric. Wether this will in any way translate into the new kind of politics so hoped for by the millions who placed him in office, remains to be seen in the days ahead.
