i'm a frustrated political strategist
Feb. 25th, 2004 09:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rmSaw Gavin Newsom on TV for the first time last night (on Nightline), and he has my wannabe-political strategist buttons working overtime. Not just because I think he's right, or because I think he has balls and a half for doing this, but because his performance was excellent despite there being a lot to critique there.
He spoke incredibly fast, although clearly, and not in excessive volume. But he had a lot to say, and he was damn well going to get it all in. He was clear, precise, didn't bobble the language or say "um", and came off as nearly exhaustingly inteligent -- big turn on for me, gold (although frustrating gold) for a reporter, not necessarily what the average American it up to coping with on a late-night news program.
He hit all the right buttons, making this a constitutional and civil rights issue, playing-up monogamy and responsibility, and talking about his own heterosexual cred.
Working against him? That fact that he's quite nearly too attractive (it's the sort of thing that make John Edwards seem too young, and to many people probably makes Newsom seem too gay despite how clear he is about his wife and so forth -- he's a very manicured man. I've also noticed in various stills of him, and also on the air, that he has very fine eyelids and with the wrong lighting it gives him a blueish tinge around the eyes, which can unfortunately make him either look creepy or like he's wearing makeup -- someone needs to get the man some concealor, now.), and that he tends to lean forward and back constantly while making a point -- it's small, but it's a habit he needs to be broken of ASAP, or else he looks like a kid bouncing up and down in his chair.
Anyway, it was a find performance, and I think this guy will be huge. If he can land on the national stage again when this sorts itself out for something less controversial but with an equally revolutionary approach... he'll be absolutely fucking huge.
It was really fun viewing. And that's the necessary crux right there.
My bet for the Deomcratic National Convention? He'll be given a speech slot, just out of prime-time -- how he navigates that will be telling. Speech slots are as often prizes as they are intentionally provided opportunities for people to shoot themselves in the foot. Evan Bayh's awful nominating speech is probably the best recent example. Bayh is known to be a great orrator -- what happened in 1996? Gore's people, supposedly believing Bayh to be a threat (that was _the_ onsight gossip), changed the text of his speech at the last minute, inflating its length and providing masses of unrehearsed, dense text. Bye bye Bayh.
(For the record, the best speech I saw at the 1996 Convention was one at two in the afternoon by a member of the House who ran for the seat because he was telling the kids in his mostly immigrant (I think he was from Texas) class, that in America you can be anything. They didn't believe him, and challenged him to run, to prove it. So he did, and drove 80,000 miles back and forth across his very spread out district in his pick-up truck. And won. Reporters swarmed him after the speech. It was ferociously, stunningly delivered, but he was some random rep from an unglamorous place, and it got an infintessimal amount of coverage, if any.)
He spoke incredibly fast, although clearly, and not in excessive volume. But he had a lot to say, and he was damn well going to get it all in. He was clear, precise, didn't bobble the language or say "um", and came off as nearly exhaustingly inteligent -- big turn on for me, gold (although frustrating gold) for a reporter, not necessarily what the average American it up to coping with on a late-night news program.
He hit all the right buttons, making this a constitutional and civil rights issue, playing-up monogamy and responsibility, and talking about his own heterosexual cred.
Working against him? That fact that he's quite nearly too attractive (it's the sort of thing that make John Edwards seem too young, and to many people probably makes Newsom seem too gay despite how clear he is about his wife and so forth -- he's a very manicured man. I've also noticed in various stills of him, and also on the air, that he has very fine eyelids and with the wrong lighting it gives him a blueish tinge around the eyes, which can unfortunately make him either look creepy or like he's wearing makeup -- someone needs to get the man some concealor, now.), and that he tends to lean forward and back constantly while making a point -- it's small, but it's a habit he needs to be broken of ASAP, or else he looks like a kid bouncing up and down in his chair.
Anyway, it was a find performance, and I think this guy will be huge. If he can land on the national stage again when this sorts itself out for something less controversial but with an equally revolutionary approach... he'll be absolutely fucking huge.
It was really fun viewing. And that's the necessary crux right there.
My bet for the Deomcratic National Convention? He'll be given a speech slot, just out of prime-time -- how he navigates that will be telling. Speech slots are as often prizes as they are intentionally provided opportunities for people to shoot themselves in the foot. Evan Bayh's awful nominating speech is probably the best recent example. Bayh is known to be a great orrator -- what happened in 1996? Gore's people, supposedly believing Bayh to be a threat (that was _the_ onsight gossip), changed the text of his speech at the last minute, inflating its length and providing masses of unrehearsed, dense text. Bye bye Bayh.
(For the record, the best speech I saw at the 1996 Convention was one at two in the afternoon by a member of the House who ran for the seat because he was telling the kids in his mostly immigrant (I think he was from Texas) class, that in America you can be anything. They didn't believe him, and challenged him to run, to prove it. So he did, and drove 80,000 miles back and forth across his very spread out district in his pick-up truck. And won. Reporters swarmed him after the speech. It was ferociously, stunningly delivered, but he was some random rep from an unglamorous place, and it got an infintessimal amount of coverage, if any.)
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hey rm. what's up?
Date: 2004-02-25 07:23 am (UTC)Good Website (http://www.passion-movie.com)
Another fascinating aspect to this movie is all the controversy that has been generated about it.
Some people, not really representative of Jewish people, but rather self appointed Jewish spokespeople, such as Abraham Foxman from the Anti-Defamation League, seem to have been attempting to denounce this film for months as being anti-Semitic. The news reported that they even stole the script last year! But here's what some Jews say (Jews who don't make it their job to tear apart other people): by Rabbi Daniel Lapin.
Nice to see some people speaking rationally.
So what do you think of all this?
*** Kyle
no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 07:37 am (UTC)That's the problem with Kerry (I've accepted that he is gonna be the nominee even though as much as even looking at him makes me wanna hurl). Edwards would have a better shot on the national stage because he has a southern accent. For some reason middle America finds that soothing in a leader. (this is straight out of the mouth of David Axelrod and a few other major political stragetists).
Newsom would probably have to run for gov and hold the seat for at least one term before the Dems would even consider pushing this guy to the front. It would be interesting to find out what his other policies are because from what I understand, he was quite conservative, even for a democrat.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 10:43 am (UTC)oddly enough - i think that this is true... i remember on 9/11 when bush spoke (despite his "southern" accent he is bumbling and comes off like a smarmy frat boy) regarding the attacks wishing that it were clinton still in office - because, though he might not do anything effective at all at least i would be made to feel like everything was going to be all right.
personally - i don't think that kerry or edwards really stands a chance in this presidential race. which is unfortunate. i wish to fuck that the democratic party would pull their collective heads out of their collective asses and recognize that they need to run a political powerhouse to get the nation's attention.
other than this - they should run kerry (who is a decent politician & his age lends him credability) with edwards (who is the "pretty boy" soothing southern guy) as his running mate. furthermore - they should let edwards speak as much as possiable in front of the national media in "big pop" politicing opportunities.
kerry has some good things to say - but, i think that he will piss off some people within our esteemed nation - simply because he's not like them... though he tests extremely well with the working, blue collar folks.
it's all a crapshoot anyhow... i keep telling people that i won't be suprised if a month before the election that bush announces that he is proposing and supporting a constitutional amendment to throw out presidental term length & term limits... making him the effective president non-elect of our quickly sinking democracy for ever and ever...
gah! what a horrid thought.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 08:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 08:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 01:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-25 12:57 pm (UTC)