The Obamas and Access Hollywood: Cynical vote-grabbing or family fun?

The kids-as-vote-bait dilemma is one that every aspiring US president faces at some point on the campaign trail. Flash them too often and risk accusations of cynical vote-grabbing,  hide them from the media glare and endanger that carefully-cultivated family man image.

While us Brits are fairly sensitive to the vote-bait charge (remember the opprobrium heaped on David Cameron when he allowed ITV to film his family at home?)  in the glitzy, Hollywood-esque arena of US politics, such qualms are rarely entertained for long. Thus, despite living in the same city as the families of Cameron and Gordon Brown, their children remain an obscurity to me, both in name and number, whereas the offspring of McCain, Obama, Clinton et al have been so frequently paraded in front of the media flashbulbs that I feel if we were ever to meet, I would be entitled to greet them with the slobbery kiss of an irritating old auntie.

As such, the decision of Barack Obama to offer his children (Malia, 10 and Sasha, 7) up to the fawn-fest that is Access Hollywood elicited only a collective coo from the US media (with a few exceptions such as Michelle Malkin, who queried whether such exposure was healthy).  But now, in a surprise turnaround, the Democratic nominee appears to have come to the same conclusion as the arch-conservative blogger (surely a first) and declared the interview ill-considered and not to be repeated.

This is quite a strange move, given that he has drawn little criticism for the interview (broadcast in four parts last night, tonight and tomorrow). Such a strange move in fact that I can only think it was a calculated one – the Illinois senator is far too media-savvy and closely-minded to have accidentally wandered into a situation he found uncomfortable. 

Meanwhile, with Chelsea Clinton already having been wheeled out to stump for her mother and Meghan McCain recording her campaign trail experience on a blog that somehow manages to simultaneously induce both nausea and sleep,  he couldn’t really have been accused of a cynicism any greater than that already displayed by his rivals.

And he was hardly exposing his children to a media savaging. Host Maria Menounos is no Bill O' Reilly (To Brits unfamiliar with the Fox firebrand - just think Jeremy Paxman with anger management issues.) Both Cindy McCain and Hillary Clinton met Menounos far earlier in the electoral season - the former standing-by-her-man following allegations of an affair with a blonde lobbyist, the latter unconvincingly detailing her dexterity with a dustpan and brush.

As Kevin Drum writes on the Washington Monthly blog, Political Animal, Access Hollywood was the perfect vehicle: “the kids get to meet Maria Menounos, the questions are guaranteed to be puffballs that stay a million miles away from political controversy, everyone is guaranteed to look good, and the whole thing is going to be aired on a show that reaches millions of viewers who don't ordinarily pay attention to politics. The only wonder of it is that Obama gets all this for free.”

There are only two possibilities to my mind – either something happens in the segments yet to be broadcast that veers into blatant political exploitation or, most plausibly,  his u-turn was pre-planned in order to simultaneously achieve a) widespread adoration of cute children and accompanying boost of family-man image and b) respect for protective dad more concerned with said children’s privacy than political benefit.

If the latter is the case, which I strongly suspect it is, I have one word only – genius. Obama has already shown himself to be one of the smoothest political operators of his generation and this latest incident is no exception.  Now who said he couldn’t play the Republicans at their own game?

But then again, maybe it’s me that’s being too cynical…

Comments

[JOHN CHUCKMAN, TORONTO]

For something like twenty years, the Republicans got a lot of mileage out of "family values."

I was so sick of that meaningless mantra that when Al Gore in his first speech after getting the nomination also made a reference to it, I almost puked.

It is a theme constantly reworked but always in use in America's national politics.

The great irony is that in running for office in America or, indeed, in serving in Washington, many of these politicians almost never see their families.

I had the idea that someone might offer plastic, life-size copies of the families of Washington politicians. The figures would be very realistic like Madam Tussaud's.

Computer design programs could be used to producing them from live scans.

They would be mounted on little wagons and could be moved into place for photo ops. Idealy, the arms and heads would be moveable to alter poses.

Eventually, the computer scans could bbe animated, and we could have all kinds of commercials and slice-of-life segments produced without any of the people involved.

At least in the case of most American politicians, Pixar television spots would make absolutely no difference in meaning or content since there already is none of either.

Whatever, Obama does have a lovely family.

McCain has only Cindy to counter with. Yuch, Night of the Living Dead.

[Joe Noory]

It's icon construction. It's what 99% of the American media do for Democrats. They create the conterxt, amplify it, and report minimally on the opponent.

They give their selected candidate a way to dominate the media space. It's just what they do. They even did it to Hillary Clinton, and went with an inexperienced nobody from the ugly world of Chicago class-warfare politics, and publish verbatim press releases identifying him as a "healer".

They want very much to believe that the 50% of the population that they individually either demonize or can't comprehend don't really exist.

They're a professional travesty, and the bulk of European press pick up on it because it appeals to those newsies on an individual level to.

[Emily]

Bad analysis. Obama certainly doesn't come off brillant in this at all. It makes Obama look, once again, weak and indecisive which merely continues the main narrative that he can't take a stand on anything. Let my kids be interviewed, oops bad judgement, sorry and backtrack. A good father and leader need not second guess. He's doing too mch of that these days.

[Pat Carpenter]

I loved the clip, the interview and Malia is certainly quite entertaining. I would love to see more of the family, but fear it may not be safe.

[SADIE]

This was a very positive and loving interview. The impression the media likes to paint is the ghetto mentality and gets mean spirited when they don't get it. The haters hoped to get fodder for negative press out of the interview and didn't. Hurray for Obama.....Our next President!!!

[Maria]

That was a very nice interview. It is too bad that they are regretting it. It showed a side of them that I did not see in the primary race. They had to go and ruin it by regretting this interview. I understand that they thought the children should not have been involved but it was not damaging at all. They should have said this is the last time that our children will be involved in any type of interview. That is all.

[prudence eely bond mcguire]

The situation reminds me of Jimmy Carter and the Iranian hostages.
Firstly he made the decision to send fighter pilots to rescue them and then regretted it and terminated the mission causing pandemonium and ridicule.
One must always rise or fall on one's own mistakes.

[Cynthia]

If John Chuckman knew anything about the USA he would be aware that McCain has a lovely family, but unlike Obama, McCain does not use his children to gain attention, or public praise.

Children should NOT be brought into a political campaign - it simply is not right.

[Bob Evans]

Obama is one of the most cunning of politicians to come down the pike in many years, and makes Bill Clinton look like a naive soul.

Congratulations on recognizing that "his u-turn was pre-planned", and strategically well-thought out.