Welcome

Welcome to 44thPOTUS. On this blog I am looking to piece together a few coherent strands from this extraordinary race, and point you towards some of the reasons why we are at this moment in history.

I will look back on the election season and look forward to the priorities of the 44th President of the United States. I will analyse the issues, the money, the media, the distractions, and mostly the strategies of both campaigns.

Monday 20 October 2008

Only in America


After Obama's rallies and gatherings, his sound guy usually plays this excellent classic from Stevie Wonder [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XfkXEp5Pj6I&feature=related] including the great lyrics

Here I am baby
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
(signed, sealed delivered, Im yours)

But recently, presumably to appeal to voters who only think of Stevie Wonder when making jokes about blind people, Obama has been shaking hands on the ropeline to 'Only In America' a sickmaking little country dittie by two Texan flopperinos named Brooks and Dunn. Great name. This song (the mirror of which we in Britain could never imagine Gordon Brown playing) is strangly addictive and catchy, and drips of sentiment.

In a sub-John 'Cougar' Meloncamp way, Brooks and Dunn have captured the essence of the American dream by sketching out a few kids' futures:

One kid dreams of fame and fortune
One kid helps pay the rent
One could end up going to prison
One just might be president

Ah, ya see - just like Barack! He's gonna be president and this song is about that too! Duh!


The song is here [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QLILrC7Y5L4]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I assume those voters have pre-listened and pre-sympathised with the 'Only In America' sentiment? With British cynisism, this title translates as 'Only in America could this bloke hope to be president.' Not voters, so I don't suppose they care about that.

Harrison said...

Hey Mark,
Its a dietry requirement to believe in the idea that anyone can be president, and yes some do buck the trend from the idea that all politicuians try to convey, that they are really regular people just like the rest of us - it quite fun thinking back to other campaigns, other attempts at them lot saying "hey, we are just like you lot" - I remember with sinister affection the Tory ad of John Major in the back of his car pointing out the window to the house in Brixton he was born in. Ah, salt of the earth!

Anonymous said...

Well, I know you have a presidential air about you - but I'm not sure I'd be all that good at it, myself ;)

Anonymous said...

I suppose I was slightly taking the P there, that you weren't saying 'anyone could be president', just that the dream is 'a suitable person from any imaginable background could be president.'