Cult of Personality

I was watching my DVD of Eddie Izzard’s “Dress to Kill” performance the other day and his line about the American dream stood out to me. He joked, “In America, the dream is to be born in the gutter, rise to success, get all the money in world and stick it in your ears!” I tend to agree with him on that both literally and in the spirit in which it was said.

He also commented on ones presentation, citing John F. Kennedy’s speech to the people of Berlin. According to Izzard, presentation and marketing breaks down into 70% how you look, 20% how you sound and 10% what you say. JFK was a handsome man who sounded like a leader should sound and when he spoke in German to the people of Berlin nobody paid much attention to when he misspoke saying, “I am a Doughnut” when what he meant to say was, “I am a Berliner.” Whether or not this story is true it does speak to a larger point, which is that ones status and personality can take said person further in this world, especially in the Western world, than actual talent.

One of the stark contrasts in America versus our brothers in Europe is that we are not nearly as inclined to follow and study politics as they are. In most of the world the difference between life and death for any number of people rests in the hands of which party happens to take the reigns of leadership, especially across Africa and Asia. While changes in the political climate certainly affect Americans, it isn’t quite the life and death struggle that exists across the pond. We can afford to be a provincial lot because whether the Republicans or Democrats control Washington, the Republic will still stand. Meanwhile the French, for example, tend to restart their republic every 100 years or so.

It is with all this in mind that marketing and personality tend to play a remarkably larger role in American political life than it really should. Look at the case of Karl Rove and George W. Bush. Rove has admitted, and this is clearly documented in the book, “Bush’s Brain,” that he could not be elected to public office, surely not the presidency, so he set out to find a show pony of sorts to ride himself into the seat of American power. He found an affable and charismatic candidate in George W. Bush and they both relied on personality to carry W. through tough political waters. We certainly didn’t elect the man strictly on his intellectual prowess.

Governor Schwarzenegger is another perfect example of America’s tendency toward icon obsession combined with lazy political analysis. During the recall election that gave him his chance at the governorship, he ran against three heavyweight contenders that may have actually been better suited for the job because nobody knew who they were, they really didn’t have a chance of winning the recall. Whenever Schwarzenegger is reported on, his actions are always framed within his “personality” or his “connection to the voters”. Journalists cite his ability to take issues directly to the people and avoid the claptrap of insider dealings that define a great deal of politics. That’s fine and dandy except it says nothing about the man's innate understanding California’s local politics or whether or not he truly understands the finer points of state legislation. The fact of the matter is that if he weren’t “The Terminator” then he’d fall under a lot more scrutiny.
In a recent headline, yet another superstar may be ascending from the realm of entertainment and in to the sphere of international influence. This from the AP:

“WASHINGTON (AP) - Treasury Secretary John Snow on Sunday would not rule out the idea of Irish singer Bono, an activist on debt relief and AIDS, making the short list of potential candidates to lead the World Bank even though an American is expected to get the job.

"He's somebody I admire. He does a lot of good in this world of economic development," Snow said.

"Most people know him as a rock star. He's in a way a rock star of the development world, too. He understands the give-and-take of development. He's a very pragmatic, effective and idealistic person," Snow said.

Snow is part of the Bush administration team working on finding a successor to James Wolfensohn, who is stepping down as head of the development bank on June 1.

Asked whether the Irish singer would make the short list of candidates that Snow is preparing for President Bush, the secretary said: "I am not going to review here all the candidates that are on the list. But I will attest to my admiration for Bono."”

I respect Bono and I certainly admire him for being more than just a knee-jerk political reactionary the way other entertainers tend to be. I’m not sure he’s capable of running the World Bank however. One never knows and he could show himself to be supremely competent if he is chosen but I have this nagging feeling that once the novelty of Bono running the World Bank wore off he’d find himself in a very hostile environment.

That is of course what happened to wrestler turned governor, Jesse Ventura. He had been the Mayor of Brooklyn Park and garnered himself a populist reputation. When he won his governors race, Ventura expected to be able to kick open the gates of the state capital like an old Western-type sheriff and, “clean up this town”. Then he met all of the state senators who reminded him that this wasn’t Saturday Night’s Main Event and thus his cult of personality wasn’t nearly enough to make the changes he wanted in Minnesota.

Sometimes personality just isn’t enough. What troubles me however is that we’re so fixated on the superfluous traits of American would-be politicians that I think we tend to throw out those that might actually do some good in favor whom we think fits a better marketing equation.

For example, look at the mess Democrat voters made of the last election cycles primaries. For all intents and purposes, Dean should have had that nomination cold. He was the real progressive candidate and surely his anti-war stance didn’t suffer the same loss of integrity that Kerry’s did. Unfortunately, his somewhat shrill personality overshadowed his ideas and abilities as a politician and the voters made the safe choice instead of the right choice. As Morgan Freeman said in “Million Dollar Baby,” “You just protected yourself out of a championship!”

Just as an aside, the next time someone bases their vote purely on a candidates looks, like John Edwards, said person should have to forfeit their right to vote.

In this modern age of ours it is extremely important for all of us to turn off “Desperate Housewives” and start paying attention to what’s happening in all facets of American political life. We need to stop fixating on a persons star-power and begin to examine their actual record and then make an appropriate choice for representation. The cult of personality can be a good thing in the face of insurmountable special interest lobbying and politics-as-usual elitism, but it can also give rise to catastrophe.

Remember, Adolph Hitler benefited from the cult of personality and as I recall that ended up badly for all involved.