Your Turn: Ball Room Conversation

I was interested in your take on this photo.  It accompanied a recent NYT story titled:  "In Iowa, the Living Room Has Fallen Out of Favor."

The gist of the piece is that candidates, for the first time, have abandoned the more intimate form of early primary campaigning.  Rather than meeting in small groups in private homes, almost all this year's activity in the "first in the nation" states is taking place in larger, more anonymous public venues, such as hotel ballrooms.

If the "what" is clear, the "why" isn't.

The article puts forth two somewhat independent explanations.  On the one hand, we could simply be witnessing an unusual degree of interest in this election.  On the other hand, there is the suggestion that today's politician has assumed a new status -- as cultural celebrity.  Under this scenario, "political rock stars" are turning out fans, along with an unprecedented hoard of media/paparazzi, at the expense of the traditional "participant voter."  In the process, this is precluding intimacy, and what was, in the past, a chance for real conversation.

But back to the picture, which I find moving in a number of ways.  I'm wondering what the image has to say about either thesis, and what -- as its own commentary -- it indicates about the election, as well as where we are.

(Todd Heisler/The New York Times. Dubuque, Iowa, February 18, 2007. nytimes.com)

Comments

[blabby]

My first impression was of a funeral parlor.

[wblake]

The lonely bottle of water sums up my feelings of the campaign process: used and forgotten, abandoned in a hotel hallway with the painted flowers, but the bright, sudden flash of the camera makes me think i matter.

[lowly grunt]

I see cautious curiosity, especially from the feller in the overcoat. His posture suggests that he is not completely sure he wants to be in the building much less the room, but there is something compelling him to peep over shoulders through the door. While I wish it wasn't McCain that was tickling his fancy, it is always a hopeful sign to me to see people getting out of their armchairs and into the process even if it is as bystanders.

[margaret]

Outsiders, we are looking in at a process which does not involve any contribution from us. When you take the information that Guiliani pulls a "Bush" and has only supporters at his gatherings, with the possibility that Hillary will do the same, we are slipping away from any pretense that The People have any thing to do with The Government: it's an Oligarchy, Corporate, Financial, Industrial, and, oh, yes, Hollywood.

[Eric (Lettuce)]

If Hillary is following a similar trajectory, it's kind of ironic. Bill never would have been president had it not been for his tireless handshaking throughout New Hampshire that scored him an "upset" and rocketed him to the front of the pack.

But hotel ballrooms aren't new in campaigns -- that's where most of the late-stage campaigning takes place. Even Allen Keyes could fill a room in the waning days of New Hampshire's 2000 primaries. I've similar pictures of a Steve Forbes appearance in Nashua in 2000, and there was a near riot (overstated, sure) when a bunch of college volunteers weren't allowed into a Dean speech in fall of 2003 for lack of ballroom space.

I think the real difference is not that this is happening at all -- but that its happening so soon. The door-to-door retail calling upon New Hampshire power brokers is what's missing. Candidates for the most powerful office begging the favor of party lions in small towns because of the dispreportional power New Hampshire or Iowa had.

And good riddence. With the increased cost of campaigns, and the sped-up nature of 2008's horse races, that sort of kow-towing makes little sense. These two small, unrepresentitives states have to share their first-in-the-nation status with Nevada -- which doesn't have the egotistical "the road to the White House goes through my living room" nutjobs. So with the changes of state, and of calendar so change the style of campaign.

And good riddence. There should be a certain amount of celebrity with a Presidential candidate. Look what happened the last time we elected the guy we'd rather "have a beer with" as opposed to the guy who could communicate to a room of undecideds and make a reasonable case.

(And regardless of where they go, pulling in only a room full of supporters won't hold water. (Usually there's a 1/2 room of supporters even in "unscripted" campaign stops.) You thrive from local media in primaries. They may be content airing a "Rudy visits little ol' us!" news story *now,* but a few months from now, they'll happily run "Rudy visits little ol' us, and no one was allowed in." Bush, as president, can avoid that somewhat -- but mere candidates? Bah.

[Victor F]

Great timing, Bag! I recently attended a statewide press photographers contest/seminar and there's still a bitter aftertaste of social exclusivity. There is so much deal-making and big-talking and clique solidarity that it's impossible for somebody with a different disposition to fit in. Well, my bias should be obvious, hotel conferences are stifling. Why not gynmasiums or auditoriums, are they all booked?

[Eric (Lettuce)]

Oh -- so, what the image says to me isn't something new. The image looks completely normal for a campaign season -- especially with the overcoats. Normal, that is, were it next December or early January.

[Eric (Lettuce)]

Victor: I agree re: the frustration, but who cares what pesky journalists think? Why would a campaign manager want a candidate to appear in a gymnasium? Horrible sound systems, dirty floors, bleachers, lots of empty seats.

Small hotel room: you got standing room only! You have to take a picture of a crowd! And if there isn't one, most hotel rooms have movable walls to create such a sweet pic.

[mugatea]

The art, non-native plants, over the table does not represent Iowa.
Not that it has to, of course. It just makes it seem like it could be anywhere(s).

McCain in a gymnasium seems appropriate. What, with his intensely aggressive approach to self contradiction he should have a few padded mats around himself 24/7.

Ah-roo-koo-koo-ah-roo-koo-koo.

[MonsieurGonzo]

margaret: “we are looking in at a process which does not involve any contribution from us”

smoke-filled room: “term used in the United States to describe a secret political gathering or decision-making process. The phrase is generally used to suggest a cabal (ie, kaballah org. Jewish mysticism) of powerful or well-connected individuals meeting privately to nominate an unpopular candidate, or to make some decision without regard for the will of the public...

...The origin of the [phrase] ‘smoke-filled room’ is an Associated Press report describing the process by which Warren G. Harding was nominated as Republican candidate for the 1920 Presidential Election. After many indecisive votes, Mr. Harding, an unlikely and little-known candidate ~ was chosen by Republican senators and party power-brokers in a secret, and apparently very smoky meeting at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago.”

[Frederick]

Gov. Schwarzenegger, "Mr. Bush, my advice to you is to get a smoking tent..."

Anyways, this picture tells me there isn't room for everyone in this process.

[margaret]

Eric (lettuce) [Whatever.] The value of those living room meetings and the small, storefront meeting in New Hampshire gave us up close views of the candidates by way of video in 2000 and 2004, and made it possible to judge people like Kuncinich, Edwards, and Dean without the scripted "questions" of the MSM media. It was those home made videos placed on the candidate blogs which told volumes about the candidates. It wasn't just for NH and other small(as it were) states; it was for all the rest of us.

[Eric (Lettuce)]

margaret: Don't misunderstand -- I love the idea of retail politics and don't underestimate the importance of seeing them spread by the web. But if they were on candidate websites, they certainly went through some image screening. The majority of candidate interactions went to a very select group of people who had an ENORMOUS amount of influence.

Imagine, instead, that there were four primaries, each one week apart from the other, in rotating order between states in 5 regions: The south, the west, the northeast, the midwest. That way, rather than two states getting all the millions of campaign dollars and exposure of their signature state issues -- it could be spread around over the years. Would anyone care about ethonol if Iowa weren't so important to would-be presidents? Would poverty be addressed in a state with diverse big cities? I know big states come up later in the process, but more than one year is spent campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire... the other states come packed together for mighty mounds of uselessness.

We'll still get our youtube video. In the age of "Macaca" the power of taping yourself -- and your opponants -- is a whole new kind of public crucible. And maybe the mayor of Dixville Notch still has a personal part to play, but I'd hope now the Mayor of St. Louis or Denver might as well.

[ummabdulla]

Eric, how about taking it a step further and getting rid of the electoral college so that, in the general election too, a vote in one state counts as much as a vote in any other state? So the candidates won't completely write off all but a few states?

[donna]

Where oh where is McCain? Will we ever actually get to see the "real" McCain?

Honestly, I don't think the man himself knows what the hell he believes anymore, he changes position so often. Wonder when he will come out of hiding?

[Eric (Lettuce)]

God, it would be GREAT to see the EC go the way of the 3/5-of-a-man census, the unelected senator, the unvoting woman and all the other 250-year-old "what were we thinking" bloopers in the constitution. The *majority* of all Americans have their vote diluted due to this ridiculousness -- but until that majority gets a real bug up their behinds about it, we're not going to see an end to it. I would have gambled that the 2000 disaster would have triggered the change, and if not that, the disaster that is/was the Bush presidency would keep it going. But in a country that has already forgotten that a city named New Orleans is still mostly rubble covered in mold, nothing seems normal.

That said -- I noticed something else in the picture. The McCAIN FOR SUPREME SOVIET LEADER poster that he's been using as of late. His website is amazing -- was a sophomore design student put in charge -- and while I like that it's different, it really doesn't work for me.

Plus, Sen. Brownback is using the very same clip-art (or is it a dingbat?) star on his site.

[readytoblowagasket]

The photo makes me think of a modern-day Norman Rockwell scene--ordinary folks crowding a doorway to catch a glimpse of the visiting candidate. The pleats of the tablecloth remind me of old-fashioned bunting, and the attendees are more important than the candidate (who is *not pictured at all*), as is often the case in a Rockwell painting. Given that this will be the first election since 1928 where no incumbent is running for president or vice president (http://tinyurl.com/yqgjtd), we should hope that voters are eager and interested in this election and crowding the doorways of hotel conference rooms. I don't think it's because the candidates are rock stars, although using such a description makes for sexier news copy. Like Rockwell, the photographer seems to be giving more weight to the electorate here. (Perhaps because of the midterm elections?) Exactly half of the photo is devoted to McCain's empty, lonely table; the more interesting half of the photo is filled with curious, attentive ordinary voters.

[jtfromBC]

I see
Control, Staging, Entertainment, in an Antiseptic Environment, Garnished with Stencilled Signs, Bland Hotel Art and Bottled Water.
When the cacophony of spectator voices subsides our Politician will commence his/her Karaoke.
The Japanese word stems from the words kara which is short for karano, meaning "empty", and oke which is short for ōkesutora, meaning "orchestra". The words together make a contraction literally meaning "empty orchestra.
Answering the why question-well this scenario is safe comforting and familiar especially for the middle class.

[Cactus]

This photo really has the feel of hotels for me. They are collections of boxes glued together. Everything is meant not to offend any sensibility and thus offends all. Carpets designed to be least likely to show dirt and wear. Programmed 'art' in every room that is all interchangeable. Collectively they are horribly lonely places. Vast space with nothing happening except you walking through it. This photo captures that feeling. The pristine McCain table has been abandoned, only the lone water bottle evidence that anyone was ever there. Men looking, away from the camera, into a large room which may also be vacant. They don't seem willing to enter but don't look comfortable where they are.

It also epitomizes McCain for me. Bland and aggressively inoffensive to the point of vacuousness. The men all seem conventionally disinterested and one can get the feeling that they are about to turn and flee. The table is hi-lited but there is nothing there.

As for the electoral college: getting rid of that is the wet dream of every lefty populist. But it will never happen because it would have to be a constitutional amendment. Amendments must be approved by 2/3 of the states, which I think is 33 or 34 states. States like North Dakota won't pass it because now they have as much power as California, and about 1/10 of the population. (ROM, not actual statistics)

[ummabdulla]

Maybe that star in McCain's logo is meant to remind us of a military medal, like the Bronze Star or Silver Star. From what I can tell, McCain has been awarded those medals, but Brownback was never in the military.

[MonsieurGonzo]

cactus: “collections of boxes glued together; everything [evident] is meant not to offend any sensibility, and thus offends all.”

interesting, alternate take: tyranny of the masses; ie., rather than that spectre of exclusivity suggested by a (literal) back-room of elites, with whom we can not interact...

...here we interpret the image in a different way: a Vox populi, vox dei (the voice of the people is the voice of god) This poll-driven conceit; this lowest common-denominator (eg., ‘collections of boxes’ = political blocs) contrived electorate of the masses, thus.

Here they clamor for, i daresay smother the figure of focus, leaving us ~ the intelligentsia aware + the dis-enfranchised ignorant fringe tails of the bell-shaped curve: out.

digg it! and you shall have the illusion of participation.

What did you dream? It's alright we told you what to dream.
You dreamed of a big star, he played a mean guitar,
He always ate in the Steak Bar. He loved to drive in his Jaguar.
So welcome... to the machine.

[MadameGonzo]

Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.

(Do not listen to those who say that the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the common people always is close to insanity.)

[Cactus]

MonsieurGonzo: As usual, you have taken that one step further. Tyranny of the masses, indeed And to MadameGonzo, kudos for the Latin. However, perhaps today, we should change it to: ". . .since the righteousness of the common people always is close to insanity."