Barack Obama's First Year

The Barack Obama era started well before he took the oath of office on inauguration day 2009.

Remember the "Wear Black November 5 to Mourn The Death of our Country" day. I do.

The main story of the first year of Barack Obama's was the rumors, misinformation, and social and political movements movements that dominated headlines, like the tea partiers and birther movements.



From day one of the Obama administration, it was not the new policies that were being sold. It was still Barack Obama the man. The campaign continued, except I don't think Obama was aware he was still actively campaigning just for the right to lead this nation in the eyes of many who had not voted for him.

The election had become some kind of coup. A takeover that had to be guarded against by "patriotic" Americans like the Tea partiers and birthers.


Notice the initial slogans were "Stop Barack Obama" not "Stop health care reform." The two concepts became synonymous. If a person believed Obama must be "stopped", then an effective way of doing so was opposing any legislation submitted to congress with his endorsement.

But never in recent memory, and I doubt in American history since the election of Abraham Lincoln, has the losing side of an election been more adamantly opposed to even acknowledging the legitimacy of a candidate, and more importantly, less willing to work with him. He wasn't just a threat to our civilization, he wasn't even a citizen. And for any conservative congressman, being seen as working with Obama on any given issue became tantamount to treason.

Obama overcame the racism, paranoia, and lies encountered on the campaign trail only to believe that these issues were resolved once he assumed the presidency.

They talked policy. Opponents talked about "reverse racism" "socialism" and "death panels".

It is important to note that, unlike the "9/11 Truther" movement, these are not fringe groups or people propagating these concepts. Sarah Palin, Rush Limbuagh, Michelle Bachman, Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck are notable people firmly entrenched within mainstream culture. These are elected politicians and radio/television pundits whose opinions and opining are widely subscribed too. If the fox network thought that significant members of their viewing audience would not stand for what is, quite frankly, gossip reported as legitimate news issues, or if Michelle Bachman thought a significant number of registered voters would overlook her as a viable candidate these thoughts would not have been thrown out as conversation fodder for the masses.

In light of these dynamics, I attribute the failures of the first year of the Barack Obama presidency to a poor job of marketing and public relations.

If indeed it is Obama that the American people bought in the 2008 Presidential Election and not necessarily his political positions, then maybe the answer to improving views on the effectiveness of his Presidency, and at the same time passing legislation that he and his supporters would consider positive, is to once again sell "Obama" and by doing so sell the legislative "goods" of his administration.

I hate the phrase "the end justifies the means." In most cases I don't believe the end justifies the means at all.

However, in this case, if backing away from discussing the merits of health care reform, war, and fiscal policies of the Obama Administration and instead hawking the Obama product in and of itself succeeds in passing various reforms. Well, so be it.

P.S.
Note the photo below and its portrayal of Obama. The cigarette, the facial expression. It is reminiscent of South American Political Leaders and Military Dictators in the 1980s. The effect is subtle and subconscious, but still effective. If this photo expresses accurately a person's perception of Barack Obama the man, how does this bode for them to consider his policies from an intellectual, neutral perspective.