White (House) Noise

The cover of a recent New York magazine shows a broadly smiling President Obama over the title 'The Selling (and Selling and Selling) of the President', subtitled 'Barack Obama's Pulpit Presidency'. Not satisfied with two labels, the magazine gave us another inside the pages (and online) - 'The Message is The Message'.

The article is an interesting read, but there's a worrisome subtext within the main theme: The President Talks Too Much.

I've given my reasons why this may be a necessary evil in a previous blog. Mr. Obama may believe he has to do as much as possible while the political will to do it persists, while the wind of good will fills his sails.

As pointed out in the New York article, however, too much talking and pushing of agendas may backfire. The withering assault of daily presidential press releases might just turn people off the message entirely.

There is evidence this may be already happening. Just witness the 'debate' at those now-infamous health care town hall meetings. Not a few of the protesters at those events seem to believe health care reform is just the vanguard of changes that will remake their America into something unrecognizable. They don't know what it is, and they can't articulate specifics of their fears, but they are sure it will be BAD. They are overwhelmed, and perfect tools of the conservative opposition as a result.

Conservative pundits fan the flames of uncertainty with unsupportable accusations, or they let grass roots falsehoods develop without stepping in to stop them. One example: President Obama's goal is to become our dictator - or 'Presentator' as I've heard a conservative acquaintance call him. Ridiculous right? Not to some who can't handle what seems like too much too soon. With the goading or (at best) acquiescence of conservative pundits, they translate Obama's urgency and energy into lust for power and evil intent.

Perhaps it's time that the President and his team give some thought to presenting a more stable, thoughtful, patient image. A little less inspirational motivator and a little more calm counselor might be in order. Anything to take ammunition away from those who's main agenda is to remove him from office and perpetuate the Bush era and ethos. If they succeed in convincing enough Americans that Obama wants to be 'Presentator', the awful rebound could see us in the hands of a fascist conservative regime the likes of which haven't been seen for 60 years. Think Germany after the fall of the Weimar Republic, and you begin to see the risk.