I would like to make a few observations about last night's primaries, in particular the themes and images struck by the candidates in their respective victory speeches. But first, permit me one unsolicited--and unoriginal--observation: Oh Good Lord what a friggin' mess the Democrat nominating process is!
Between pledged delegates and Super Delegates and the popular vote and secretive caucuses and Florida and Michigan, I confess to being utterly dumbfounded as to: a) whom the totality of Democratic voters (as opposed to, for example, Republican voters who gleefully participated in primary day festivities) actually favor, and, b) whether the whole convoluted process can in any way, shape, or form yield the most electable candidate.
But let's get to the imagery and oratory, shall we?
I use the term "human bouquet" to refer to the way a campaign positions supporters behind its candidate during a televised address. As any reader of Proust knows, the arrangement of flowers in his Remembrance of Things Past is meant to give off certain messages. With less eloquence, the same is true about the human bouquets created by the handlers.
The placing of Madeleine Albright behind Hillary Clinton in Iowa, as is well known, did not give off the right message. The same might be said about the McCain team's perplexing strategy of surrounding the Maverick with folks who look like they are upper-administrators at your local DMV. (I have no strong opinions on the Romney boys standing behind their father).
Obama's human's bouquet during his speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, last night was rather conspicuous. He was situated in front of an arrangement of middle-aged white women. These women seemed enthused. The Senator delivered his remarks with élan—more élan than has been seen from him in a while.
The good people at CNN dubbed Obama's address an "acceptance speech." Plausible, but let me add that he "accepted" in another sense of the term. Namely, he accepted that he had endured a pretty brutal springtime and that he must now confront his difficulties forcefully.
To this end, he referred to himself as "an imperfect messenger." This would seem to have been a tacit acknowledgment of the bitterness caused by his self-inflicted wounds. Using a don't-believe-the-hype tactic, he mentioned those who "pounce" on every "gaffe," "association" and "controversy."
He seems also to finally accept that Americans desire garish displays of love for the Stars 'N Stripes. Cracking out his Sousaphone of Patriotism, Obama um-pahed Red, White and Blue themes, pausing to mention "the flag draped over my father's coffin" ( I guess, but can't be sure, that he is referring to Old Glory, here).
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Later on, in Indiana, Senator Clinton comes out swinging and suggests she is going to fight on. This is metaphorically implied, I would surmise, by the guy standing behind her holding bright red boxing gloves. The other flowers in her bouquet include a bearded guy named Ned. A two-year-old boy being held by his Daddy (at least I hope it's his daddy). A few middle-aged white women (take that Barack!), and some union-looking guys.
Yet as the speech wears on it starts to drag. I notice that when Hillary is experiencing turbulence she lapses into a rhetorical style similar to that of John McCain's: a sing-song rhythm in which every sentence is delivered with the exact same cadence and ends on the same predictable beat.
Her remarks do not lend credence to the theory that she is about to unleash a desperate scorch-the-earth policy (a theory much discussed in Washington). She does, however, allude to Florida and Michigan. "It would be a little strange," she opines, "to have a nominee chosen by 48 states." Yet by the end of the evening, even the state of Indiana is no longer safely in her column as we learn more about the dysfunctional process through which Democrats elect their presidential nominees.
Later this week, I'll look at the "Evangelical Manifesto" that will be discussed later this morning at the National Press Club.
(For more information about religion and the candidates check out Faith 2008 by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs.)
Jacques Berlinerblau is the Rabbi Harold White Chair in Jewish Civilization in Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service and senior advisor to the Center for Jewish Civilization, where he was director from 2006 to June 2020. Berlinerblau has published on a wide variety of issues ranging from the sociology of heresy and modern Jewish intellectuals to African-American and Jewish-American relations.
