Only One Reason To Do This
There is only one reason to be concerned that fundraiser attendees might record the session -- because one knows the candidate is giving tailored and mutually contradictory messages to different groups. Obama has a different speech, I suppose, for the 1% than he does for the 99%. Which is no big surprise, since it is a practice as old as modern campaigning* and one I am sure both parties engage in. But it is probably a larger issue for Obama -- when so much of a politician's campaign style rests on demonizing certain groups, groups that are also large campaign contributors, it must be a tricky business tailoring his message.
* footnote: I leave this in a footnote because I don't want to be seen as breaking Godwin's law by bringing up the Nazis, but its almost impossible to talk about modern campaigning techniques in the age of mass media without mentioning them. They pioneered many of the techniques used by about everyone nowadays. One thing they did was to create focused messages for different groups -- tailors or farmers or city people or industrial workers or Catholics or whoever. They were incredibly cynical in how they did this, even by modern standards, and didn't really care what the message was, and so ended up with wildly contradictory promises, e.g. promising farmers higher prices for their produce and promising urban laborers lower food prices.
elambend:
I think a lot of our modern culture derives from the thirties, at least more than is regularly acknowledged.
As for Obama's campaigning style, one of his big skills is mirroring in a way that everyone reads off him what they want to read. This style, though is particularly vulnerable to side-by-side comparison of different venues.
May 15, 2012, 7:28 amBFD:
As in the President's pocket as they be, the press must be at all fund raisers to ensure that the President doesn't have differing private and public messages.
May 15, 2012, 9:29 amAnother guy named Dan:
"promising farmers higher prices for their produce and promising urban laborers lower food prices" - I believe that is the current Mission Statement of the USDA.
May 15, 2012, 9:50 amMark2:
“promising farmers higher prices for their produce and promising urban laborers lower food prices”
Hitler didn't have an active blogging community to video him and post the contradictions online. People were also less mobile. It was much easier in the 40's to promise different things to different groups. How often would the farmers go into a large city anyway and talk to the locals about politics?
May 15, 2012, 10:34 amme:
While public officials are engaging in their paid-for-from-taxes activity, I believe the public has an absolute right to monitor and investigate their actions. And yes, that should include police officers.
May 15, 2012, 12:01 pmSmock Puppet, 10th Dan Snark Master and CRIS Diagnostic Expert:
I'm just wondering how far you have to get your head stuck up your ass in order to actually DONATE MONEY to such an obvious complete tool, when it's shoved directly in your face like this...?
Jus' Wond'rin'...
May 15, 2012, 5:03 pmNoumenon:
when so much of a politician’s campaign style rests on demonizing certain groups, groups that are also large campaign contributors,
I would appreciate a blog post with examples of this next time it irritates you. You and TigerHawk (and Jamie Dimon) all feel Obama insults and demonizes you in an almost personal way and I've just never seen it.
May 17, 2012, 5:33 amSam L.:
I attended a talk by Sander Van Ocur after the '64 election. He said Barry G really messed up by going to Tennessee and talking against the TVA, and to Florida and talking against Social Security.
May 19, 2012, 10:13 am