Obama, cash, and the selective media

Hi everybody, I realise it's been a while (several long months) since my last post. In that time, I've got a new job, survived a canoeing adventure that would have killed lesser men, past the milestone of my 30th birthday, read several books (okay, comics... But they had zombies), and did lots of other things that are too mundane/fodder for another article to print here (actually typing the word 'fodder' has just made me think what a wonderful word it is, and brought back memories of the seminal Amiga classic 'Cannon Fodder'). Anyways, on with this weeks blog (see what I did there, I insinuated that I'd be writing one of these a week... Chances are, I will forget, like that time I forgot to buy toilet paper. The less said about that episode the better, although 'The Times' doesn't flush all that well!). This weeks blog will focus on the US election, or more accurately will focus on the media coverage and reaction to the US election.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate Mr Obama on a very well funded campaign, there won't be much CHANGE after spending almost $300,000 an hour throughout October). This is an astronomical amount, and the spending over October alone by the Obama campaign, was almost what McCain had spent throughout his entire campaign. Again it reiterates the point that the presidency can be bought, although I guarantee that if Obama becomes unpopular with the media, there will be some investigations into where exactly all of this cash came from.

The depressing thing for the American voters is that certain groups behind Obama's funding will be seeking at there own agendas. Two examples of this are the donations made by various unions who will be looking for Obama to repeal the law relating to secret ballots in the workplace (which isn't particularly democratic), and the teaching unions that may want to water down his "real teaching" program as this may affect their pay/results package. This, I feel may be a problem that will have a negative impact on Obama's policy for change.

Unfortunately, the media, in particularly tv and radio news in the UK has stayed away from reporting how these campaigns have been runand funded, and instead relied upon soundbites from both candidates. We seemed to have wall to wall coverage of the election but at no point understood what the candidates were all about, although, it's difficult to see what each candidate was about when one repeated the same message of change over and over again (Obama), while McCain's decended into a farce of smear campaigns and cheap stunts (the whole Palin thing springs to mind).

In a nutshell that is what the tv (even the bbc coverage on tv seemed dumbed down) reported, we were constantly treated to Sarah Palin saying something stupid in a new outfit, McCain trying very hard to steer his campaign back from the brink of dirty tricks that his advisors had taken him too, and Obama looking presidential, constantly repeating his mantra for change. For all of the fuss over vp running mates, we never saw Joe Biden again after August as Obama walked to victory, and Palin was an unmitigated PR disaster after her initial display.

The one thing that has really wound me up about the media and it's reporting of this election, apart from not reporting anything really, is the harping on about America's first black president (We all know America's first black president was David Palmer in 24). Although I do not want to take anything away from this achievement, Obama never campaigned along racial lines, so why does the media now insist that this is some sort of miracle? Why do they insist that this is the embodiment of Dr King's dream, and that Britain too is in need of a black prime minister? There's a band wagon somewhere, and it's overloaded!

Perhaps in a week or so this will calm down, and we'll all go back to complaining about the economy, the banks and the government. In the meantime, we'll have loads of people putting their two pence into the debate about how Obama's election victory will affect the world and our day to day lives (much like me). For all these people, I have two words for them 'Tony Blair'. He came to power with a colossal victory against an unpopular government on a campaign of change and hope for a nation. As we all know Blair's victory was a disappointment, which in part has left the country in the mess it is in today. Obama would do well to look at the mistakes made by Blair's government and realise that he will use up the goodwill the country has given him if he doesn't act quickly and decisively to put an end to Bush's unpopular policies and deliver the change he promised.

See you further up the road,

Steve - 07 November 2008