Politicians Are Not "Rock Stars!"

(Danville, California)

 

    Every campaign has its just plain ludicrous moment. In 1992, some nut asked Bill Clinton if he preferred "boxers or briefs." Not only was the question inane, but the press coverage was equally as bad. In 1995, some poor reporter in Baltimore tried to ask newly-elected House Speaker Newt Gingrich the same question. Gingrich, whether you like him or not, properly excoriated the fool reporter by dressing him down in front of the entire press corps (and national TV audience) for asking such a ridiculous question. For those of us who still value quality journalism, it was a choice moment! (Such moments, sad to say, are far too infrequent these days).

 

    So let's fast forward to the 2008 campaign. This year's bad cliche is to refer to candidates as "larger than life": "Barack Obama is a rock star!" "Hillary Clinton is a rock star!" (OK, the picture here was "photo-shopped!")  I even heard former Gov. Mike Huckabee referred to as a "rock star!" Now Huckabee does play a mean bass guitar, sometimes in a band, but he is NOT a rock star. Nor is Obama or Clinton.

 

    The only people who are actually "rock stars" are the rock stars themselves. It's a self-describing title. You either are, or you aren't. There's no room for "wanna be's" here. The Hall of Fame football coach and announcer John Madden has always railed against team owners and executives who pull football jerseys over their suits and then accept the team trophy in the locker room after the Super Bowl. Not only, he says, do they look foolish for wearing a football jersey over a coat and tie (and they do), but none of them ever played a down in the game! The point is that owners own, and players play. And, politicians make laws; and rock stars make music. Mixing the roles and metaphors in society is confusing (and in many cases is deceiving).

 

    I have had the good fortune to have worked in both the music industry and the political world. The great lesson in life (as well as in entertainment, in sports and in politics) is, "Don't try to be what you are not!"

 

    Truth be told, most politicians are "dull as dirt." I've been around a lot of them. Not all are dull, mind you. Former Sen. Bob Dole and current Rep. Barney Frank are among the funniest people I ever met. They have more jokes and one-liners than most stand-up comics. But they are the exceptions, not the rule.

 

    Politicians are not "rock stars," and I doubt whether anyone really wants them to be. The music business has been marred by excesses in sex, drugs and alcohol since time began. It's a tough, grueling, often heartbreaking business that has taken its toll (even death) on countless who enter. Excess is an occupational temptation and an occupational hazard. Yes, and sometimes, the same pitfalls occur in the political world.

It's a hard life, constantly living on stage and in a glass house, surrounded by a curious public and press.

 

    But the analogy ends there. The real problem with calling politicians "rock stars" is that those doing so feel compelled to embellish the candidates - to make them something larger than life - which they are not. Former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, whom I got to know over my years as a Congressional Aide and as a reporter, used to refer to this phenomenon as "putting lipstick on a pig!"  In the advertising business the old adage is "Sell the sizzle, not the steak!"

 

    The problem with all of this from a media standpoint is that I see reporters (even on the networks), standing at a rally and reporting "live" that "Barack Obama is a rock star!" What this says, loud and clear, is that the reporter has nothing of real significance to say. Nothing about Obama's biography; nothing about the candidate's stance on issues; and no knowledge about the candidate's voting record.

 

    Comedian Jay Leno once joked that "Politics is show business for ugly people!" Cute line, but maybe he's on to something. If Barack Obama becomes president, I want him to be more like Harry Truman than Ozzy Osbourne. If John McCain becomes president, I want him to be more Calvin Coolidge than Sid Vicious.

 

    So let's stop the media obsession with the "rock star" analogy. All it does is diminish the candidates, diminish the reporters using it, and - most of all - it diminishes what should be a great public debate.

 

    I will keeping writing the "rocking blog" (OHMIGOD...did I just say that?) Tune in daily at www.MarkCurtisMedia.blogspot.com.

 

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