AWARENESS

In terms of our five-element story model the Dem primary story is now entering its fourth element - Awareness. It got there step by step.

Both Hillary and Obama have Passionately motivated their base voters – how passionately is clear from the record turnouts. They have each presented a coherent point of view around which their constituency can rally. Hillary’s and Obama’s policies are essentially the same, so things are more about identity politics and style than usual, but given that they are both “historic firsts” their position as Heroes was pretty much of a lock.

As Antagonists they have slugged it out across 20 long – sometimes endless – debates. We have seen Hillary tear up and Obama shake his head fetchingly with that dazzling, “oh shucks” smile he has and most true Dems have opened their hearts to both of them. So much so that the biggest applause line at the Texas debate was for the suggestion that they join together in a “dream ticket.”

Yeah right, dream on. Emotions come from struggle and to see the real, raw emotional price politics extracts it is hard to beat this clip of Rep. John Lewis talking about how much harder it was to shift his support from Hillary to Obama than to face the racist beating he took leading the Selma march in the 60s. It should be required watching in any Civics class. Check it out here.

But you can only stay emotional for so long. The rush of adrenalin passes and if you are lucky it is followed by a strange and watchful calm. That is where things stand right now for Dems. Hovered on the edge of a dawning awareness. Awareness is a mental process but as viral marketing campaigns prove it is not necessarily a rational one. Watch closely, we are now entering the time of the tricksters

Comments

[Cam Beck]

When analyzing the passion and stories of these two individuals, I find it useful to look at Hillary as a politician (or the wife of one) and Barack as a rock star.

In terms of actual substance, his core message (advertising and boiler-plate stump speeches) is pretty lightweight.

Any policies ideas he does mention have a Santa Claus quality to them. They're "new" in name only, as they've been tried before during the vast government expansion of the last century.

In other words, it's not really new and fresh. But he's different from Hillary in that regard only in style and form.

She makes a more believable antagonist.

How long can he sustain the emotion he's engendered? Hard to say. Perhaps until people start realizing he's actually a politician, and not a superstar.

It can go on for quite some time, though. After all, the Beatles still have diehard fans - and they broke up decades ago.

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