Visuals

       What were they thinking?

        On the night Barack Obama trounced his opponents in South Carolina, viewers were treated to one of his most magnificent speeches to date--a rousing, inspiring feast that also bristled with a few well-aimed barbs towards Hillary and Bill Clinton.  It was triumphant, eloquent and memorable.  And, as in the Iowa victory speech, it was a masterfully arranged visual tableau.  We saw a good-sized venue, lots of "Change" signs, a hyped-up crowd.  Most importantly,  viewers saw rows and rows of a diverse and engaged group of supporters arranged behind Obama while he spoke.  They were all ages, all races, both sexes and they all looked ecstatic to be within such close proximity of their candidate and eager to listen to his speech.

         And Hillary Clinton.....?

       Someone made the decision that Senator Clinton would not speak from South Carolina;  that she would acknowledge the loss only in passing while appearing in  Nashville.  The logic, presumably, was that it would show her campaign moving onwards and upwards towards the next primaries instead of dwelling on a loss and giving Obama any more attention than necessary.

        But I thought the Clintons employed a lot of well-paid media consultants--the cream of the crop--and communications advisers.  Didn't these experts realize that, even if she lost, there would be video coverage of her no matter where she was or what she was saying?  That the cameras would follow her?  That television abhors a vacuum?  Anchors and talking heads too often talk over  footage, so you'd better make sure your candidate and his/her supporters are arranged to make the most positive visual statement.

        So, here's what we saw:  First, Bill Clinton sort of conceding on Hillary's behalf at a rally in, I believe, Missouri.  Bill had his usual florid shit-eating grin.  Shaking his finger.  Bill, to be generous, is not aging well.  Unfortunately his somewhat conciliatory words were interspersed with earlier video of Bill's comment that Jesse Jackson had won South Carolina in the 1980's--a true enough statement that still sounded breathtakingly dismissive and, yes, racist (as in "Yeah, South Carolina always votes for the black candidate, so if Obama wins big fucking deal--they voted for JESSE for god's sake!")    And with Bill speak we saw the Clinton tag-team two-fer in action, ramming home the unfortunate notion that Obama is running against Siamese twins.  Two against one isn't something we want our kids to learn nor our presidential candidates to practice.

        Then the cutaway to Hilary's appearance in Nashville.  Clinton advisers should have fervently hoped for a systemic nationwide power failure.

         Two scant rows of supporters behind her.  You have seen a more animated group of people with you in the Jiffy Lube waiting room as you hope that your car is the next one finished and that you'll be out of there only paying 25 bucks.  Senator Clinton gave her boilerplate campaign speech, a perfectly acceptable one except that it was juxtaposed with Obama's fiery, well-honed words and the contrast, to put it mildly, was painful.  One starkly blond woman behind Hillary looked as if she had been searching for a bunco party and wandered into the rally by mistake--they gave her a sign, sat her down and promised her unlimited Jello shots later.  

         As Senator Clinton droned on even the more friendly-looking supporters glanced away, up, down, sideways, off....thinking about their itchy seats, sick family dogs, Cloverfield, Super Bowl office pools, optometrist appointments, leaky gutters and the upcoming sale at Shoe Carnival.  They looked almost as uncomfortable as the uneasy, shellshocked group of Clinton 1990s cronies onstage with her during her Iowa concession speech.  

         Finally even Wolf Blitzer--an expert on boredom if there ever was one--threw in the towel and informed viewers that Senator Clinton was merely giving her stump speech and, in effect, there was no reason to prolong the misery.   The fourteen people still watching heaved a collective sigh of relief.  

         So, later, all through the night and into the morning we saw news clips of a dignified but happy Obama hugging a chic, Jackie-Kennedy-esque Michelle and then taking the stage to speak, presidentially alone, to a delighted crowd.   The news outlets that bothered to show Hillary footage (and not all did) often displayed the immobile, bored group behind her and/or  a pink-faced Bill looking like the cat that ate the canary--a guy far too happy to be in the spotlight and remind people of his unending fabulousness.  

         And all the while, at the bottom of the screen, even if your sound was muted because you didn't want to wake anyone up--there was the most startling visual of all, an unpredicted 27- or 28-point rout for Obama.