Cool Counts for Something, But Maybe Not Much in Presidential Race
by FOXNews.com
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Barack Obama probably doesn't wear his sunglasses at night, but he was playing it cool in the desert of Kuwait less than two weeks ago. (AP File Photo)
By: Dan Kricke
The economy, the War on Terror or enjoyment of music by music mogul Jay-Z.
No, it’s not a bad version of Johnny Carson’s famous “Carnac”; it’s a list of issues that could be most important to one solid bloc of voters in November.
As Election Day nears candidates are pulling out all the stops to try to appear as human and likable as possible. In 2008, it seems, coolness counts.
From Barack Obama pulling a move from the aforementioned rapper’s playbook and “brushing the dirt off his shoulders” during a speech, to John McCain putting out a viral video aimed at teasing the media for their adoration of his Democratic presidential rival, both campaigns are doing their best to look like regular guys having fun amidst all the seriousness that usually accompanies politics.
Despite their efforts to appear as cool and as fun as possible, it’s hard to say exactly how much, if at all, showcasing their coolness will help either candidate.
Likability seemingly counted for something four years ago. Leading up to the 2004 presidential election, much was made of a Zogby/Williams Identity Poll that found that 57 percent of undecided voters said they’d rather have a beer with President Bush than Democratic challenger John Kerry. Bush, the seemingly “cooler” candidate, won over the stuffy Kerry.
Bill Clinton, already dubbed a cool candidate when he blew the saxophone during a guest spot on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1992, sealed his position as the quintessential cool president two years later, when a teenager asked him during a forum on MTV whether he preferred boxers or briefs.
But cool won’t matter so much this year, said former MTV VJ Kennedy, now a talk show host for KFI AM radio in Los Angeles. Kennedy said voters have learned from the past.
“People credit Bill Clinton playing the saxophone … with helping him win in ‘92 by drawing in a young audience who went and told their parents about it,” she said. “Now it’s 16 years later, and those people have kids and they’ve been through what a cool president can get you. It’s not really worth it.”
Amy Schroeder, founder and editor of Venus Zine, a nationally published magazine that focuses on the latest in music, fashion and culture, said she isn’t sold on the notion that coolness should be a factor in November.
“It’s important for voters to see politicians connect on a human level rather than a purely political level,” Schroeder said. “But that isn’t a reason why I’d choose to vote for a candidate.”
Former “Survivor: China” contestant Mike “Frosti” Zernow, a 21-year-old who identifies himself as a Democrat, might be exactly the kind of voter swayed by the coolness factor.
“When Will.i.am makes a music video about you with a bunch of celebrities and you’ve got videos up on MySpace and everything, I know it sounds dumb, but it does have an effect on me,” Zernow said. “People my age notice when a celebrity we like, like Scarlett Johansson, supports a particular candidate.”
But Kennedy said voters like Zernow are unlikely to come to the polls in November.
“Barack Obama is the most implicitly cool presidential candidate we’ve ever had,” Kennedy said. “It’s part of his mystique, but that’s not going to matter to people that actually vote. People that like to say they’re going to vote, they’ll be drawn in by that, but they never actually [vote]. So aside from a very small bump that he might receive from people under 25, no one is going to vote on coolness.”
A spokesperson for the Obama campaign did not respond to requests for comment. But McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said other factors will take priority for voters besides how cool a candidate is.
“I’m sure there is a portion” of people who vote on coolness, Bounds said. “I’m sure they exist, but ultimately voters elect proven leadership, not a rock star persona.”
The size of the youth bump could be critical this year, but the demographic group’s notoriety for failing to get to the polls reinforces the criticism that they are all talk, no action.
According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics on the 2004 election, of the nearly 25 million American citizens in an age range that would most covet “coolness” — 18-24 year olds — slightly more than 14 million , or 57.6 percent, even bothered to register to vote. That is by far the worst registration rate of any age range. Those 18-29 years old also had the smallest turnout of all the age groups tabulated on Election Day.
It may be that Americans won’t know if coolness counted in the 2008 election for some time, said Daniel Galvin, assistant professor of political science at Northwestern University.
“We almost never know why voters vote the way they do,” Galvin said. “In 2004, something like 23 percent of voters said they cast their vote based on values. But there was no option for them to say, ‘I voted the way I did because Bush is more like me.’”
“Polls don’t do a terrific job measuring things like coolness, but we do know that people don’t always make sophisticated judgments, either.” |
