Obama takes politics back to the future

For anyone who doubts the genius of Obama’s spectacular close to the Democratic National Convention, a few reminders: College Football season begins this weekend. The SuperBowl is the most watched event on television. SuperBowl halftime shows are an anticipated highlight. Obama, bringing the convention out into the Mile High stadium, had the audacity to turn a political convention into the SuperBowl.

Politics, you’ll remember, in the Founding Fathers’ era — a time before professional sports, theater, movies, or television — was the primary leisure activity. It was the sport of the day. Newspapers, filled with classical references, literary allusions, and scholarly rhetoric, were the promotional vehicle of choice.

With his towering interactive projection stadium screens urging the crowd to send an email, text message, or phone some of the 55 million Americans across the country the campaign has identified as not registered to vote, Obama has brought the traditional get-out-the-vote drive squarely into the 21st century. Television was his promotional vehicle of choice. With it he was able to bring that historic excitement into America’s living rooms.