Kerry and the TV Personality Gap

[beachmom]

I was thinking out loud about this on the Jesse Helms thread, and thought this should be its own thread.

This year, Jon Stewart has made fun of Kerry no less than 3 times that he's a complete bore, talks in sentences that no one can understand, lacks any emotion and is just all around "not cool". I say Kerry goes on The Daily Show and "plays" his role, and completely makes fun of himself, like maybe he brings out a health care bill and starts reading it to Jon, saying, "well, here's a good part, it's so exciting", etc. Because if you think about it, these criticisms Jon has of John are not fatal and lack substance. JK needs to be himself AND make fun of it. If he can get people to laugh with him instead of at him this would be a great step towards people starting to like him. And yes, this is stealing material from Bush's playbook, but it works (how he makes fun of his abuse of the English language, so people are laughing with him instead of at him). In a way, what has been happening to JK on TV is a reflection of what happened to him throughout his school years. Back then, his response was to work harder, to achieve more, but people need to know that he doesn't take himself TOO seriously. But . . . the big but, is he should only do this if he is comfortable with it and believes it. If he is just going to go through the motions, then it will come across as "phoney", and it would be a disaster.

The more I thought about this the more I thought that it shouldn't be a one time thing on one show. He should be willing to make fun of himself and the "professorial tone" on command when it's appropriate. His daughters could help, which they already have. They told stories about asking him about sex, and his face turning 5 shades of bright red. They pretty much have said that he's kinda dorky. So GO WITH IT!!!! The message could be, yes I sometimes take myself too seriously and get caught up in the wonkiness of it all, but it's only because the ISSUES are so serious. Like health care for kids who have none. What I think will make this work is because there indeed is truth in this. He really does get wordy, and he shouldn't change who he is. He should be . . . John Kerry AND be okay with it. When I was watching that Political Tourist film, Polosi's daughter asked him to describe John Kerry in one word and he said "fun". Hell, even I rolled my eyes at that remark. Look, I'm not debating that he doesn't go out there and have his share of fun, but that's only AFTER working hard in the Senate or on the campaign trail. In general, we don't see him as fun, so his remark comes across as the dreaded "phoney", trying to be something you are not. Once he goes with the fact that he likes being a politician more than anything else, then we can start seeing that he's also someone who likes to have fun. With Pelosi, his answer should have been something like "Look, I wish I could describe things in just one word but I can't! I am a progressive who wants to make people's lives better. And I'm a patriot who wants to protect this country from harm with the talents God gave me. And I've wanted to do that since I was a kid. And that's what I have spent most of my life doing. Call me old fashioned or hopelessly idealistic, but that's who I am". So keep those damned focus group political consultants away from him, trying to make him into something that he is not.

This approach has two elements -- telling the truth about who you are AND sometimes using humor to do this. There really were always two aspects to Karl Rove's playbook -- taking your opponents strengths and turning them into weaknesses (SBVT, even JK's athletic abilities a la windsurfing) AND taking your candidates weaknesses and turning them into strengths (Bush's shall we say lack of intellectual ability translates into "I'm a regular guy" and "I talk straight because I'm not smart enough to talk any other way"). Everybody talks about Rove's first strategy, but it's time we talk about the second. Kerry's greatest weakness is all of those personality traits listed above. It's time to take those perceived weaknesses and turn them into his biggest strengths. Yeah, I'm a serious man who only worries about the country's economy and its national security, and maybe I might miss some ball games and don't have time to watch NASCAR. But that's so YOU don't have to worry about the country, too. Put me in charge, and I'm afraid I will be too busy and quite frankly unable to entertain you. But we live in serious times, and it's about time we have a serious leader at the helm.

What do y'all think?

[beachmom]

1. Some great responses on the Jesse Helms thread about this

Check them out, too, especially Karryn's response which was so poignant.

[karynnj]

2. Thanks Beachmom

I also agree with what you are saying above. I had almost deleted that post - because it seemed like it was way too wordy and got very off topic. His daughters really did humanize him - as did Teresa until the Republicans smeared her unmercifully.

The "quality" of the smear job done on both Teresa and John was such that many people's perceptions of John Kerry absolutely IGNORED that he had two daughters who very clearly shared his values and valued the strong relationship he had with them, an ex-wife who spoke very kindly and highly of him, adult step sons who respected and liked him (which in and of itself should answer - the he only married her for her money) and a wife, whose intelligence and accomplishments he took great pride in.