Presidential politics has been its own form of pop stardom for decades — certainly since then Bill Clinton work on the saxophone The Arsenio Hall Showand possibly by an actor Ronald Reagan won the White House. At some point during this period, the party's conventions became less like political meetings and more like pop concerts — organized shows, usually in arenas that also host concerts, where icons perform their greatest hits. This year former president Barack Obama he even came out during the Democratic National Convention to perform a sly remix of his own tag line as a tribute to the vice president Kamala Harris: “Yes it can.”
Like most remixes, this one requires some knowledge of the original, so it's not for everyone – a 25-year-old voter would have been nine when Obama's 'Yes we can' campaign slogan first hit the big time. The point is to rally the super fans, get the influencers excited, and inspire enough enthusiasm to attract some undecided voters. It's politics as a cinematic universe — now with flashing LED wristbands and the “politics of joy.”
Increasingly, the modern way to express a worldview is to join an army of fans, a musician, a content creator or even a politician. Now that pop culture has swallowed everything, relationships with fans help define what race people belong to, the way class or place of origin did before the Internet made those things much less relevant. Support of the former president Donald Trump it's not so much about favoring his policies, whatever they may be, as liking his honesty (or his insanity) or sharing his sense of grievance. (Isn't everything rigged?)
The idea of an “army” of fans, as opposed to a “club,” suggests some kind of tension—or at least a tendency for devotees to define themselves against other tribes. Part of Trump's support is condemnation of the media and the “deep state,” just as a portion of BTS's fans lament that journalists just don't understand how great they are. Sides have always been picked — think The Beatles and the Rolling Stones — but now who fans don't like is as important as who they do.
Not too long ago, politics involved…well, it involved more real politics. Democrats wanted a bigger role for government, while Republicans did Grover Norquist he wanted to drown it in the bathtub. Obama and Trump made it more about personality and worldview – “Yes we can” or “Make America Great Again.” (For Obama, the arc of history was bending toward justice; for Trump, everything was going downhill.) Obama had many policy ideas, but he campaigned on hope and change, which is hard to resist—which will could he run into despair and stagnation? After all, it's harder than ever to pass ambitious legislation these days.
The conventions, which started out as actual meetings and then became appointment-watching for people interested in politics, are now aimed more at followers of a particular party. And they deliver. Most people I know, most of whom are Democrats, think Harris did great, and I agree. But how could he not? It had an enthusiastic crowd, good warm-up acts, and even nice lighting. Most importantly, it has the momentum of momentum. The real question is how he would do with reporters and how he would fare in a debate against Trump.
The closest to an open question was the possibility of subversive protests over the war in Israel and Gaza, which looked like they might echo those that took place during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, also in Chicago. (With Hamas and Hezbollah firing rockets at Israel daily, it seems odd to refer to this as a war on Gaza.) At the time, anti-war protesters in Grant Park chanted “the whole world is watching” — a line from a Bob Dylan song — as the police beat them and arrested them. Recently, some people did the same, but these days the whole world can now see everything on social media, although sometimes it's hard to tell if it's real or generated by AI.
After every great pop culture moment comes the drama of the fan army. In this case, that means Harris supporters must convince the far left that voting for her is better than staying home. Robert Kennedy plans to support Trump because he might be able to take a look at the Roswell files. And Trump will complain that he would be much more popular if only the charts were different.
Come November, we'll find out who's No. 1. Until then, we'll have to wait and see if Taylor Swift endorses a candidate — and if either of them will be half as effective as they are at using their devoted fans to create mainstream Attention.
