Bonnie Fuller, writing in Ad Age:
If humanizing celebrities sells magazines and movie tickets, why wouldn't some "Obamas are just like us" stories help make voters feel more familiar and comfortable with the Obamas? After all, it's widely believed that George Bush managed to beat out Al Gore in the 2000 presidential campaign because Americans thought he'd be more fun to share a beer with than with "elitist" Al.
Oh, history. Presumably, Fuller forgets that Al Gore won a popular vote majority in 2000. So Bush didn't "beat out" Gore because of any particular characteristic; he won the election because his electoral college / legal strategy was superior (or the Supreme Court handed it to him, whichever you prefer.)
Maybe the margin would have been bigger had he been a better "pal," but there's no evidence, really, that the beer gap was dispositive. People seem to appreciate that they're voting for president, not for best friend.
Obama's image issues are different. He has an unusual name. His life story is 21st century American, not 20th century American. Internet rumors claim he's a Muslim. He's lived his adult life in urban Chicago.
Is it really a coincidence that the ultra-warm Barack family People portrait appeared on newsstands just a week after a controversial New Yorker cover that satirized the Obamas as fist-jabbing Muslim militants?
Yes, actually, but Fuller's final point is true enough:
He and his wife are telegraphing in a brilliant marketing move that like Brangelina -- with their ubiquitous kids in their arms -- they are hands-on loving parents and devoted partners who live in a traditional All-American-style house, and yet are deeply concerned with the serious issues that affect you, the American voter.
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