Barack Obama, in an attempt to appeal to as many niche political groups as possible, has splintered his support so much that — in the end — there is no single coalition of minds that leads to results instead of mere yearning. Here is one of the lapel buttons for sale on his website:


Here’s the Obama button supporting Gay Pride.

 

Here’s the button for African Americans:

This “Asian Americans Pacific Islanders” button seems like an overdone, politically correct, joke — until you realize each button costs a serious $3.00USD:

If you’re Latino — here’s your button!

If you fought in a war, Obama has a button for you:

Female?  Button?  Youbetcha!

Independent?  Not any longer… if you’re with Obama!

Obama Republicans?  Uh… sure… as if…

I don’t understand why one button can’t be used to unite all of us.

What’s the point in this splintering and “niching” of American political interests?

If you stand for everything — then you mean nothing — and all these buttons speak to a scatter-shot philosophy of uniting and that’s bad for America and really bad for Barack in November if we don’t all cast away out self-interested buttons in favor of a single semiotic.

Here’s my favorite Obama Button.  It unites.  It speaks to everyone in a single image:

Unfortunately, that great button is the last button on the last page of Barack buttons for buying — and that’s
precisely what Barack Obama needs to fix within himself before he can even begin to fix us as a nation. 

Bring us together. 

Don’t separate us by lapel semiotics.

4 Comments

  1. Kathakali Chatterjee – Hyderabad, India – Professionally, I have an interesting concoction of experience -- from entertainment industry to retailing to executive education -- the journey is still on. When I don't work, I love to travel, read, listen to music and watch movies.
    Kathakali Chatterjee says:

    Hi David,
    I didn’t expect this from Barack Obama – it seems childish and directionless – I wonder what prompted him to do it!
    And I agree with you, the last one looks most significant – it should definitely go to the first page, or else people will lose interest before reaching there.
    In fact, too many choices would leave all confused.

  2. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    Those buttons do show a real problem with the Obama campaign, Katha: He’s trying to be everything to everybody. He’s gone mainstream, bland, and he lost his focus. It will be interesting to see if he can bring home a win in November now or not.

  3. ANNE – I live and teach on the upper West Coast of the United States. My interests are Philosophy, English, and Social Communication.
    ANNE says:

    I wonder if they will have one button with Biden in tow?

  4. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    Anne —
    Let’s hope the Obama-Biden ticket creates one button to unite us all.

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