Fear, Power, Cartoons

It doesn’t feel exactly right to make an out-and-out political post on this blog, both because I probably can’t write with adequate depth or nuance about American politics (then again, how many people do?) and because BWF tends to balance life updates, net trolling and informal music writing (the following is none of the above). With that said:

The Barack Obama New Yorker cover uproar is embarrassing. Critics, including Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton, are crediting Barry Blitt’s cover with a kind of power it could only have, say, if a nationwide outcry put it in every newspaper or broadcast in the country. If you’re not familiar with the cover, it’s kind of obvious, but on-target: a basically literal illustration of right wing rumors and suspicions about Obama will look goofy, because these rumors themselves are very goofy.

In going forward with the cover in question, the New Yorker staff refused to give credit to the idea that Americans are impressionable morons, and more power to ‘em for that. It’s a genuine disappointment that many supporters of a candidate who has been (relatively) impressive in his refusal to insult the intelligence of or condescend to the American public are criticizing a work that refuses to insult the intelligence of or condescend to the American public. (Slate’s Jack Shafer says similar things here.)

What’s most worrisome to me about the controversy is how it displays the left’s insecurity about Obama’s ability to appeal to middle America. If his campaign was in so precarious a position that it could be endangered by a piece of broad satire with mid-level public visibility, then I don’t believe he would be the Democratic nominee right now. This is a demonstration of fear, of self-attributed weakness, that the right has every reason to be thrilled about.

Being in New York this summer has confirmed some hopes that I, like a lot of people, had about Barack Obama: he’s generated a sense of optimism and pride in marginalized Americans, and people like me (and probably you) also think he’s pretty cool. I see Obama shirts, signs, etc in black, low-rent areas of Brooklyn…and everywhere else. Even if he is headed toward the center—seriously, fuck that Telecom vote—this level of excitement and solidarity, across racial and economic backgrounds, is something remarkable, and something unique. It’s also something that leaves me relatively unconcerned about hypothetical swing voters who drive Ford F-150s and pay attention to the New Yorker.