Obama campaign wonders: Can we be cool again?
The president has gotten involved in the effort himself. In January, he wrote a Happy Birthday letter to Zooey Deschanel, the “It Girl” actress and indie rocker, and recorded a minute-long video that ends with him walking off while listening to the “Golden Girls” theme song on his iPod for hipster icon Betty White’s 90th.
Keeping up with the pulse, the campaign joined Spotify to share its 2012 playlist with supporters. That’s the latest in an aggressive social media presence that includes Twitter accounts for the president and first lady, a Facebook presence, a YouTube channel, a Flickr page and a Google Plus profile. The White House also has tried to up his credibility with accounts on the microblogging site Tumblr and photo sharing platform Instagram.
The Obama 2008 campaign logo, a trendy graphic design ‘O’ rising over a red-and-white striped field, is back again this year with updates. It’s been modernized with matte colors replacing the glossy and more varied shades of red, white and blue. On BarackObama.com, the 2008 color palette and design has become more sophisticated, with bright blue replaced by navy blue, baby blue and white.
The changes, said Obama 2008 design director of new media Scott Thomas, are meant to allude to the cool while introducing the notion that Obama is now “more distinguished and more experienced” than he was four years ago.
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No.
obladioblada on February 12, 2012 at 9:03 PM
Sorry, but the kids have to pay off their school loans. And if they’re going to buy clothes, it’s an interview suit.
And besides, Obama is soooooo 2008.
Wethal on February 12, 2012 at 9:04 PM
Oh, yeeeeees, that will bring out the youth vote.
Wethal on February 12, 2012 at 9:05 PM
You were NEVER cool. All in your inflated heads.
thebrokenrattle on February 12, 2012 at 9:06 PM
They should be askin’ “was we even cool in the first place?”
ted c on February 12, 2012 at 9:07 PM
And this is supposed to bring in the youth vote or the elderly vote in FL?
Wethal on February 12, 2012 at 9:07 PM
There’s nothing cool about incompetence.
RBMN on February 12, 2012 at 9:09 PM
hipster icon? Betty White?
okay, keep goin’ with that right there…ya’ll got it in the bag.../
ted c on February 12, 2012 at 9:09 PM
Focused on the important things.
Yeah sure you may be unemployed and barely scraping by, but look how cool PBHO is with his new and improved logo.
Bishop on February 12, 2012 at 9:09 PM
Politicians should never be “cool”.
therightwinger on February 12, 2012 at 9:11 PM
This story’s actually a piece with Samuel L. Jackson’s rant about how he voted for Obama in 2008 because he was black.
Jackson’s anger at Obama as president is basically that he hasn’t been black enough, and has acted like a typical (white) politician. While the youth vote out there may not be a hankerin’ for Obama to unleash his full Al Sharpton on the right like Sam is, they, like Jackson, have seen that Obama’s nothing more than a standard-issue hack politician. And without the racial solidarity Jackson still maintains with the president, it’s going to be harder to woo back the majority of the young voters who bought into the idea that Barack was “cool” because they bought into the idea of Hope and Change.
jon1979 on February 12, 2012 at 9:14 PM
Children!
OldEnglish on February 12, 2012 at 9:16 PM
Cool again? wtf?
bernzright777 on February 12, 2012 at 9:18 PM
This from the airhead who had an April Vogue feature on Mrs. Assad, fashion icon of the middle east, just before her husband turned Syria into the killing fields.
Wethal on February 12, 2012 at 9:18 PM
Just stop and think about that for a second….the President of the United States of America worried about looking cool.
This man never grew up. He is still a college student. I have liberal friends like him..50′s 60′s and 70 years old. Still hippies..still regurgitating the same leftist spittle.
Barry is no different in mental acuity.
Mimzey on February 12, 2012 at 9:23 PM
Come on guys! I am severely COOL!
FLconservative on February 12, 2012 at 9:27 PM
Wow.
Put another way: “Please convince yourself he’s capable of performing at this level without requiring him to prove it in any way whatsoever, just like you did in 2008.”
In case you cool young voters were confused by the last four years of a crappy economy and high unemployment and the still-rotten housing market and high energy prices and all that sort of completely coincidental absolutely-not-Obama’s-fault stuff, this guy knows what he’s doing now and you should let him keep on
flying in that awesome jetbeing president. No, seriously. He put some new matte colors on his logo to prove it, see?BTW, can we have $3?
rogerb on February 12, 2012 at 9:30 PM
Can we
coolcruel again?FIFY
hillsoftx on February 12, 2012 at 9:30 PM
Because being perceived as “cool” will fix the economy. What a moron.
conservative pilgrim on February 12, 2012 at 9:33 PM
Hey, kids, rage against the [Chicago] machine!
Anna Wintour is one of the 1%!
Wethal on February 12, 2012 at 9:33 PM
Trying to be cool is uncool.
See Peanuts Snoopy as “Joe Cool.”
Wethal on February 12, 2012 at 9:34 PM
Obama for class president.
Flange on February 12, 2012 at 9:35 PM
And…Bo will give you rabies for a $5 donation!
RedCrow on February 12, 2012 at 9:37 PM
Cool went out the door when he wore those “mom jeans” and attempted to throw a baseball.
RedCrow on February 12, 2012 at 9:38 PM
Yep, that’s his top campaign mission, -to be cool.
slickwillie2001 on February 12, 2012 at 9:38 PM
tools
rob verdi on February 12, 2012 at 9:38 PM
Just run campaign ads with pictures of Urkel on the bike.
Worse than Kerry in spandex windsailing.
Wethal on February 12, 2012 at 9:41 PM
High School benchwarmer. Not much has changed.
batterup on February 12, 2012 at 9:41 PM
Compared to Mitt Romney? To the extent that a politician can be cool, Barry stomps the opposition.
urban elitist on February 12, 2012 at 9:48 PM
Good! Playtime’s out!
OldEnglish on February 12, 2012 at 9:52 PM
Whoosh….completely missed the point of the criticisms.
Mimzey on February 12, 2012 at 9:56 PM
Hey, kids! How cool is living with Mom and Dad again because you can’t find work?
CurtZHP on February 12, 2012 at 9:57 PM
That Obama wants to be cool reminds one of the pathetic nerd who kept trying to hang out with the cool kids. (And the cool kids put a “kick me” sign on his back.0
Wethal on February 12, 2012 at 9:59 PM
I think when he kinda gets that squinty look, lifts his chin up to the sky, scowls ever so slightly…that’s damn cool.
(It’s his pose for Rushmore, donchaknow.)
RedCrow on February 12, 2012 at 10:01 PM
I shuddered when I read in South Carolina the night before the primaries that in an auditorium, Romney’s people had the campaign bus drive in to cheers so he could emerge from it.
I don’t care how “cool” Obama acts, Mittens will be downright embarrassing trying to out-cool him. Think Mitt Romney dancing down the dance line in the old “Soul Train” to Boogie Fever.
Marcus on February 12, 2012 at 10:05 PM
One of the weirdnesses of getting older is that you look at all these kids who think they invented cool, and realize that it is all so boring, been there, done that, bought the dvd. Anybody over 40 who is worried about being cool never grew up. “Coolness” Isn’t clothes, or colors, or trends, it’s an inherent state of mind that says, what is cool is whatever I select. Coolness is having confidence in yourself, in your principles and actions. Barry is so insecure it’s sad.
Kristamatic on February 12, 2012 at 10:06 PM
Sure, why not? I mean, other than Romney not being mentioned exactly zero times in a piece about Obama’s
abilities, accomplishments, and substancelogo and matte colors.But yeah, other than that, go for it.
rogerb on February 12, 2012 at 10:08 PM
That pencil necked geek never was cool.
He is cold…a cold-blooded Stalinist.
tom daschle concerned on February 12, 2012 at 10:27 PM
Obama has a lot more gray hair now than he did in 2008.
Do young people interested in coolness notice little things like that?
(Hint: the answer is most definitely yes.)
Dextrous on February 12, 2012 at 10:56 PM
No.
Tim_CA on February 12, 2012 at 11:00 PM
Personal Favorite:
Tim_CA on February 12, 2012 at 11:03 PM
I ask myself that question every time I see a hot coed (U of Richmond) at the local shopping center. And Obama, let me answer that question for you, the way I answer it for myself. Grey is not cool–unless you are driving a very hot car, and are wearing expensive clothes and an expensive watch. Otherwise, grey is old, and old is def not cool. So no, Obama, you are not cool.
smellthecoffee on February 12, 2012 at 11:27 PM
He got the youth vote by using the power of “cool.” Unfortunately for him, four years is too long for a trend to still be “cool,” and not long enough for it to be “retro.” Hey, maybe 0bama should have been working on substantial reasons for the youth to vote for him—like, oh, say, creating jobs and stuff. Welp, too late for that now, isn’t it? This is as juicy as setting a 10-for-2 bid. In both cases, the dumb bastidges shouldn’t have bet it in the first place if they didn’t have it. You just got to play it through until all the tricks are taken, and watch the other guys scramble and fail the whole way.
Sekhmet on February 13, 2012 at 12:07 AM
Sure. Just trot out Soros. Kids will dig him.
BHO Jonestown on February 13, 2012 at 1:05 AM
LMAO! So THAT is the new definition of Hope-n-Change, eh?
DannoJyd on February 13, 2012 at 4:33 AM
Yeah, that’s so crazy it just might work! Providing the yoot voters of America still enjoy being patronized, exploited, and insulted as much as minority voters do. The dead ones, they don’t mind so much.
surrounded on February 13, 2012 at 7:36 AM
Here we observe the very definition of “apropos of nothing”.
Dr. Carlo Lombardi on February 13, 2012 at 8:39 AM
Nerd.
Little Boomer on February 13, 2012 at 8:52 AM