More Cowbells? More White People!

Overzealous event coordinators? A rare, unforced error committed by the Obama campaign's site advance teams.

From an article in the Tartan, the daily newspaper Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

While the crowd was indeed diverse, some students at the event questioned the practices of Mrs. Obama's event coordinators, who handpicked the crowd sitting behind Mrs. Obama. The Tartan's correspondents observed one event coordinator say to another, "Get me more white people, we need more white people." To an Asian girl sitting in the back row, one coordinator said, "We're moving you, sorry. It's going to look so pretty, though."

"I didn't know they would say, 'We need a white person here," said attendee and senior psychology major Shayna Watson, who sat in the crowd behind Mrs. Obama. "I understood they would want a show of diversity, but to pick up people and to reseat them, I didn't know it would be so outright."

Comments

What a great post! You, brave Marc, are leading the charge in providing "corresponding attention to Obama's fitness for office." I salute you, you latter day Edward R. Murrow.

Posted by Seth | April 9, 2008 7:35 AM

At least they were up front about it.

Posted by Therese | April 9, 2008 7:36 AM

I can see this little piece of information was sitting in your inbox first thing this morning waiting on you to get up, wasn't it? I don't think I've ever seen you post an earlier article.

Looks like someone was busy polishing up the kitchen sink late last night.

Posted by malcomem | April 9, 2008 7:36 AM

Somebody's not coordinating anymore Obama PA events anymore. There was a pretty brilliant field coordinator here in MD, and the Baltimore event I went to pretty much randomly filled the risers behind Obama with people at one particular entrance who said they were willing to stand up for a long time. Seemed to work well enough without bothering to have someone achieve the ideal tableau vivant.

Posted by Zach | April 9, 2008 7:39 AM

I hope nobody thinks Clinton went from old people behind her in Iowa to young people behind her in New Hampshire by accident.

Posted by Anna | April 9, 2008 7:43 AM

What? This is news? Every campaign stages the backdrop, and Marc knows that very well. This is a disgrace of a post.

Posted by Brian | April 9, 2008 7:49 AM

This is what all campaigns do...the Obama campaign is supposed to be exempt from this? At least we know that the Obama campaign's event coordinators are getting paid on time. HRC write IOU's...

Posted by Sean | April 9, 2008 7:55 AM

Wow. That's a little uncomfortable. What if Hillary's folks had done that? Mayhem would ensue...

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Posted by matt | April 9, 2008 7:59 AM

If CMU students want to see how outright things really are, they need to take a look at how University Admissions and Financial Aid Committees function. I bet CMU will not be an exception.

Imagine the dialog:

"We need more African-Americans in this program, we can't have zero for 3 years in a row."

"Too many Asians in Medicine again, can't we do something to discourage their applications?"

"The yield rate for Asians in Medicine is 90%, African-Americans less than 40%, so do what it takes to admit twice as many Blacks as there are places"

"We have too many Catholics in this program."

"Hey, how do we classify this girl, she is half Black but he checked himself as White? We can really help our numbers by counting her as black and female"

"These Asians will pay anything to attend Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Columbia so there is no need to give them as much aid."

[CAUTION: THE DIALOG ABOVE IS ENTIRELY FICTIONAL]

Posted by D | April 9, 2008 8:06 AM

The giant orange stupid will have a pearl clutching, heading for the fainting couch front pager on this. Or at least a most recommended diary. I'm sure it will.

Posted by hadenough | April 9, 2008 9:19 AM

I hear that at McCain events they keep calling out for people under 50, but they can't find any.

Posted by John M | April 9, 2008 9:32 AM

Actually, Obama's racist detractors should be pleased with this. The white folks are getting preferential seating assignments, just like the good old days...

Posted by RKA | April 9, 2008 9:37 AM

Matt from Political-Buzz

You really think Hillary people don't make sure the people behind her are of diverse race and age ?
Wow. You may be too naive to be commenting on politics then.

Posted by benjamin | April 9, 2008 9:41 AM

Speaking as a CMU alum and former Tartan columnist, the Tartan is a weekly production not daily.

Posted by fester | April 9, 2008 9:42 AM

Obama's campaign is just getting worst.
http://hillbuzz.blogspot.com/

Posted by mary | April 9, 2008 9:45 AM

mary,

from your site:

"We sure are ready for a president who will be a fighter"

When are we going to see Hillbilly dressed up in a hajib, with a concealed explosive belt on her, brandishing an AK-47?

Now, that is the jihadist President for us!

Posted by D | April 9, 2008 10:00 AM

Typical race baiting tactics by the Obama campaign. Kudos to the student newspaper and others for calling them out on it.

Posted by Sandy in PA | April 9, 2008 10:01 AM

Michelle Obama:

"This is the first time in my adult life that I've been proud of American cowbells!"

Posted by JoeCHI | April 9, 2008 10:12 AM

Man, I can't believe the Obama campaign invented staged backdrops out of thin air. I'm amazed that no other politician since the advent of photography has ever arranged to have the people or scene behind them look a certain way so as to communicate a message to the crowd and media.

It's amazing how convention crowds magically generate signs, too. I wonder if Obama will...dare I say? Yes, I dare say: HAND OUT SIGNS IN AUGUST.

Democracy has ended. I am...saddened.

Posted by Starscream | April 9, 2008 10:19 AM

Shayna Watson, you could have had your Rosa Parks moment!

Posted by Chloe | April 9, 2008 10:22 AM

Michelle Obama:

"I have the fevah, and the only prescription is more white people!"

Posted by JoeCHI | April 9, 2008 10:24 AM

You people are just trying to whitewash the whole thing!

Posted by D | April 9, 2008 10:26 AM

Talking about making a mountain out of a molehill.

Posted by Micheline | April 9, 2008 10:26 AM

Great post, Marc. Look forward to your explanation of why it's newsworthy, unless you think that this type of thing doesn't happen at every event for every candidate (in which case, you probably ought to get out more).

Posted by Joe | April 9, 2008 10:28 AM

It's weekly or maybe biweekly, not daily. How many colleges have daily newspapers?

Posted by a | April 9, 2008 10:33 AM

I agree with Joe. You are an idiot.

Posted by Anonymous | April 9, 2008 10:41 AM

Come on now. You know every campaign does this kind of thing. It's all about the photo opportunity. If campaign advance members do this, that's one thing, if the candidate or his advisors do this then it's an issue.

Posted by Vishous | April 9, 2008 11:03 AM

a -

I don't have aggregate numbers, but UW-Madison's got two, The Daily Cardinal and the Badger Herald.

Posted by Mercutio42 | April 9, 2008 11:15 AM

You all can't be naive enough to think that those visual tableaus we see behind the candidates are acts of happenstance, can you? Are you really that dense? You gotta be friggin' kidding me.

LOL

There is ALWAYS someone from the television field directing these things, folks. Get real.

You know Ambinder, I find it interesting, the kinds of things you always ' happen' to find with regards to Michelle Obama especially. I'm just saying.....

Posted by rikyrah | April 9, 2008 11:27 AM

Of course every politician and every campaign does this. it is politics as usual.

But I thought Obama was above all that?

Posted by Destini | April 9, 2008 11:33 AM

This is a silly manufactured story.

I was an organizer at a Hillary Clinton speech during the 1992 general election campaign. We were under very explicit orders to have the right gender/race/ethnicity balance among the people to be seated behind Mrs. Clinton.

This is standard stagecraft. I guarantee you this happens at every single event by any candidate...OK, maybe with McCain there is some directive to find someone under the age of 70 too!

Please!

Posted by Ken | April 9, 2008 11:38 AM

This is a disgrace of a post. Unbelievability absurd.

Posted by David | April 9, 2008 11:41 AM

I think Obama could be caught in bed with Larry Craig and the kool aid drinkers would be outraged that anyone was reporting it. They'd claim everone was doing the same thing, and anyone who criticised Obama was playing the race card.

Posted by Mutaman | April 9, 2008 11:51 AM

Over at the Weekly Standard, Michael Goldfarb takes the Obama campaign to task for deploying the "diversity police" during an appearance by Michelle Obama today at Carnegie Mellon University. But while the campaign staff's efforts to produce a multi-racial backdrop may have been ham-handed, they pale in comparison to the comic Republican attempts to create the illusion of any minority support at all.

For the details, see:
"Right Assails Diversity Staging at Obama Event."

Posted by Furious | April 9, 2008 11:52 AM

Marc, why don't you mention McCain's surrogate from yesterday who said something along the lines of "You can bring the Tiger Woods, we'll still beat him"

Posted by David | April 9, 2008 12:14 PM

Marc, why don't you mention McCain's surrogate from yesterday who said something along the lines of "You can bring the Tiger Woods, we'll still beat him"

David,

Interesting point. It made Countdown, but somehow, Ambinder can't even find a place to squeeze it on here, but THIS, he can.

Like I said, very interesting....

Posted by rikyrah | April 9, 2008 12:50 PM

White people suck. We need change, y'all.

Posted by Pauli | April 9, 2008 4:22 PM

Imagine if we filled the front rows of the "stage" with cute blonds all ogling at OBammBamm?

Like the "call me" ad.....

Posted by D | April 9, 2008 4:34 PM

Check out the shirt with the Obama heads strategically placed on it. Obama-ya-yas!!

Posted by Pauli | April 9, 2008 4:46 PM

The care with which the Obama campaign stages events is truly awesome. Mike Deaver, who brought such staging to a new level for Reagan a generation ago, would be proud.

I attended the NYC fund raiser for Obama a couple of weeks ago. There were 30+ tables of ten in the room. While the well-heeled Manhattan liberal crowd was overwhelming white, I observed that there were at least one or two African-Americans seated at virtually every table. No table had a majority of blacks. My sense was this almost perfectly calibrated integration was not an accident.

Posted by Slow loris | April 10, 2008 11:53 AM