Blue Crab Boulevard

A Mirror Of Desire

Tom Maguire looks at Barack Obama's appeal. He contends that it is the projection of people's internal desires onto the surface of a mirror. That is the problem for Hillary Clinton.

Allow me to expand on my notion that Obama is the Mirror of Desire (Mirror of Erised to you Harry Potter fans out there) in which people see what they most want to see.

Obama's basic message is that he is a smart and reasonable guy who will reach out to people representing a wide range of views and bring them together to bring about "change".

But what people actually hear is something somewhat different, namely, "Obama is smart and reasonable and he will listen to me; since my ideas are smart and reasonable, he will ultimately embrace them as his own".

This creates a very different dynamic from the typical political campaign. Rather than trying to convince a majority of voters (primary or general election) that his ideas are superior, Obama simply needs to convince a majority that their ideas are superior. Should be doable!

And how has Hillary been combating this? Not effectively. Her basic approach has followed the traditional campaigner's plan of marshaling programs tailored to appeal to 51% of voters. By and large, the upshot will be that folks who agree with her will figure they will get their way with either candidate; folks who disagree with her will favor Obama. Not helpful.

But what happens when the reality doesn't meet the image the viewers have projected onto the surface? What happens when their heart's desire is not there in the real world when they turn away from the mirror?

What happens? Even better, what happens if the mirror of the supporter's desires is shattered by backroom deals or by another Messiah?

What happens to all those souls?

Politics | Gaius Saturday, 16 February , 2008

By Mwalimu Daudi, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 8:31 pm

The irony for Hilly the Hun is that if Obama were a Republican and ran on the same messages of "saving you soul for you" and "change to be named later", the MSM would have eaten him alive.
By NortonPete, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 8:42 pm

Mwalimu, you have said steadfastly that Hillary will win the nomination. I am going to place odds you are correct. Obama has won a bunch of red states that will not count in the Nov. election. Ohio is more important. Gaius has posted that the whirlwind for Obama is beginning to lose speed.
It is going to be Hillary vs. McCain in November and McCain will win. (If we all vote people)
By Maggie, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 9:46 pm

B. Hussein Obama is already airing radio ads in Ohio …
I don’t watch much TV at all these days, so I couldn’t say if he’s bought time on there.
By Maggie, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 10:36 pm

Strike that …
Just saw a Hillary ad on TV while running the local news in the background …
By Gaius, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 10:45 pm

I’m sorry. Two large whiskeys before bed should stave off the nightmares.
By Mwalimu Daudi, Saturday, 16 February , 2008 @ 10:50 pm

NortonPete: I still think that Hilly the Hun will get the Democrat nod, although I am less certain than I used to be. To me, the key will be getting the delegates from Florida and Michigan seated ("count every vote"). If she does, I think that she squeaks by at the convention. She has already won the big "blue" states (California, New York) and is currently poised to win in Pennsylvania and Ohio. That will impress the "superdelegates" more than Obama winning states Democrats are unlikely to win in November. I agree that a McCain-Clinton race is very winnable for McCain.
I thought about voting for the Hun in the Texas Democrat primary (just to tweak the nose of The Messiah), but the husband of a friend of mine is running in the Republican primary for a local office and I don’t want the other guy to win.
By Uncle Pinky, Sunday, 17 February , 2008 @ 1:51 am

Two large whiskeys before bed should stave off the nightmares.

Bed? MacMaggie hath murdered sleep. I’ll be sticking my head in a butt of Malmsley.

Of course I’d do that if anyone ever found out that I’d read the Harry Potter books, or that I read snark-fu champion Tom Maguire, but my guilty secrets are safe here within the pages of my private journal ( ’cause diary sounds so girly) which is keyed to open to something found in my pocket but visible in a mirror.

What? It opened to … WHAT!!!?

The answer was “lint”

Knowing what you want and getting what you want are often very different things.
By syn, Sunday, 17 February , 2008 @ 6:16 am

I’m hoping Hillary receives her party’s nomination over Obama so that Democrats will be forced to face Moveon.org’s wrath for a change.