Power of image

[Moloch]

Presidents like to think their administrations are based on big ideas, effective policies, and personal charm. But in large part the essential ingredient to their success is image--how they convey themselves to the public and how they communicate their goals to the country.

President Bush (news - web sites) and his strategists know this, and their use of stagecraft is among the best of the modern era. Throughout the past four years, the president's handlers have surrounded him with the kind of visuals that the camera finds irresistible--scenes of American flags, soldiers, kids, admiring faces, and backdrops of signs and slogans reinforcing a theme of the day--economic prosperity, for instance, or victory in the war on terrorism.


Beyond all that, Bush's presidency has benefited from two iconic images. One was the picture of him standing with a bullhorn amid the rubble of the World Trade Center after 9/11, the other of Bush in a flight suit swaggering across the deck of an aircraft carrier after a dramatic landing in a Navy jet. Clearly, one of the president's goals, one that helped him win a second term, is to project an image of strength and resolve.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=926&ncid=959&e=1&u=/usnews/20041207/ts_usnews/powerofimage

[NYC Liberal]

1. I hate those damn halo photos!

:puke:

[MisterP]

2. and, despite all the stage-management, he still looks like a pinhead

either gawping blankly, slumping like Bigfoot, contorting his face into the shape of an eggplant, leaving his barn door open--it's always something

[ozymandius]

3. If you're familiar with the old Bloom County cartoon -

Bill the Cat was W's mentor: -Aaack-ing awkwardly in some discordant setting against either pastoral beauty or emotionally uplifting drama.

[one_true_leroy]

4. and BOTH of those are straight outta Hollywood...

Bill Pullman in Independence Day and Tom Cruise in Top Gun

[bvar22]

5. Another administration that was GREAT at stagecraft.

The NAZIs and Adolf Hitler.

[Moderator]

6. Reason for move

This is not latest breaking news. This is a feature article.
If an article could have been written last week, or next week and still remain valid, then it is not "breaking" news.

[Moloch]

7. Ok, I didn't know that....

It was posted to Yahoo a few hours ago...