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What do you mean by "sudden" celebrity-like focus on politicians? You probably are too young to remember the Kennedys, but talk about celebrity politicians!
And Hollywood? Sinatra and the Rat Pack pulled every string they could to get Kennedy in office - and to this day there are doubts as to the legitimacy of his election.
Nah. Humans are humans. Politicians are politicians. Famous artists are famous artists. For every Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone trying to use their platform of celebrity to influence votes, there's thousands of examples throughout history.
I think television has gone a long way to move politicians from intelligent policy makers to celebrities. The Lincoln-Douglas debates, for example, consisted of seven three hour debates, and everyone went to watch. Today, we get bored if the sound bite from a presidential candidate is longer than 2 minutes on the news. Also, we have not had an overweight president since television was invented. As a citizen base, our #1 priority any more is to be entertained. We enjoy the political divide for the same reason 'west wing' was successful - it entertains us.
Entertainment matters to us citizens more than knowledge and effectiveness.
The left sees hussein obama's election as their opportunity to push with great force their left winger agenda and hussein obama is stealing as much of our tax dollars as fast as possible to funnel (spread the wealth) to as many of his cohorts as possible. They know they have one shot at it so they will do as much damage as they can, as fast as they can.
We have to hope we can undo some of the damage they cause because it is sure to get much uglier before this con man is out of office. He has already sold generations to come down the river.
I am starting to believe that you are not real. No one can maintain your level of paranoia and still function on a daily basis. Tell the truth - you're really an uber liberal parading as a tin foil hat wearing right wing nut job, right?
What do you mean by "sudden" celebrity-like focus on politicians? You probably are too young to remember the Kennedys, but talk about celebrity politicians!
Yes I realize that the Kennedy's were immensely popular but even with all of their fame, the level of paparazzi stalking has never been higher. It's annoying and I am only using the Obamas in this case (I realize there are plenty of Republicans treated the same), but I really don't need to see the President of the United States without a shirt on in Hawaii. Do his abs make one bit of difference in how he runs the country? Why the endless debate on whether or not Michelle Obama has shorts on? Every dress, every wave must be analyzed and dissected. It's annoying. It's annoying with celebrities and it's even more annoying when the person who was elected to run the country is treated like he's got a price on his head (and he probably does...I imagine the stalkerazzi get a good paycheck for snapping an unflattering photo of the First Family)
I think television has gone a long way to move politicians from intelligent policy makers to celebrities. The Lincoln-Douglas debates, for example, consisted of seven three hour debates, and everyone went to watch. Today, we get bored if the sound bite from a presidential candidate is longer than 2 minutes on the news. Also, we have not had an overweight president since television was invented. As a citizen base, our #1 priority any more is to be entertained. We enjoy the political divide for the same reason 'west wing' was successful - it entertains us.
Entertainment matters to us citizens more than knowledge and effectiveness.
The problem is that there is no difference now between the news and celebrity talk shows. Paris Hilton getting out of jail? Break into regular programming and let that be the lead story on NBC Nightly News! Reality TV shows make "stars" out of people with no talent. There has always been a celebrity culture and the Kennedy's were a family who were photographed and emulated too. The difference is that you've got magazines devoted to finding the cellulite on a group of celebrities, reporting on which reality-tv star is knocked up, and then page 36-38 is the interview with Michelle Obama.
We treat politicians like celebrities and there is no doubt in my mind that there are some people out there who would be awesome leaders (on both sides) but they're fat, or their wives/husbands are fat and ugly, their kids wouldn't deal well under the media glare, they've got an old boyfriend/girlfried who would go on one talk show after another with embarassing photos and allegations, the list goes on. We've decided that elections are a popularity contest and as has been for centuries, the "cutest" person wins. Not a good way to run a country.
It's the same way for athletes. It's not enough to throw/catch a ball, ski down a mountain, swim faster than anyone else. You'd better be cute too or no one will give you the time of day. "Cute" belongs in the celebrity world and rightfully so.
Washington DC needs to worry less about being "cute" and focus on what the heck they're doing there. I don't care what your clothes look like or how you look in a bathing suit. I don't care what your spouse looks like or if your kid was on American Idol. There are a lot of famous movie stars, athletes and politicians in our history that would have never been made into the icons that they are now if they had to deal with 24/7 media coverage.
Teddy Roosevelt wore girl's clothes until he was 5. William Taft was so fat he got stuck in a bathtub. James Madison barely weighed 100 pounds. Andrew Johnson (Abraham Lincoln's VP) was so drunk on inauguration day that he could barely stand up and was barely coherent when taking his oath. He couldn't even do his duty to swear in newly-elected Senators. Imagine the "breaking news stories" that would have taken place!
Finally, if you think that the media/tv/photographs haven't skewed the lines between someone running for office based on merit or looks, I submit to you this fact: In elections since the end of WWII, the taller of the two main party candidates has won the election 75% of the time. Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush are the only post-war presidents to have defeated taller rivals. It's all about the image being projected. Most people associate those who are tall with being more self-assured and assume that they have better leadership traits. That's not something you would know about a president we only heard a debate on the radio or read about it in the newspaper.
Yes I realize that the Kennedy's were immensely popular but even with all of their fame, the level of paparazzi stalking has never been higher. It's annoying and I am only using the Obamas in this case (I realize there are plenty of Republicans treated the same), but I really don't need to see the President of the United States without a shirt on in Hawaii. Do his abs make one bit of difference in how he runs the country? Why the endless debate on whether or not Michelle Obama has shorts on? Every dress, every wave must be analyzed and dissected. It's annoying. It's annoying with celebrities and it's even more annoying when the person who was elected to run the country is treated like he's got a price on his head (and he probably does...I imagine the stalkerazzi get a good paycheck for snapping an unflattering photo of the First Family)
People talk about that stuff because that all they CAN talk about. Then they feel smart about having a political discussion. Sad but true.
The left sees hussein obama's election as their opportunity to push with great force their left winger agenda and hussein obama is stealing as much of our tax dollars as fast as possible to funnel (spread the wealth) to as many of his cohorts as possible. They know they have one shot at it so they will do as much damage as they can, as fast as they can.
We have to hope we can undo some of the damage they cause because it is sure to get much uglier before this con man is out of office. He has already sold generations to come down the river.
dcsldcd !!! ... I bow to the master ! I don't know of anyone who could have explained this matter any better than you have !
Indeed an extraordinary political effort must be applied to ensure that this "Ultimate Nightmare" is not returned to the WH in 2012 !
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I bow to the master ! I don't know of anyone who could have explained this matter any better than you have ! 
