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August 20, 2011

Obama 2012; The 2011 bus tour 'Live'

Phil Boehmke
The official video from Barry O's corn-belt bus tour is available now!  The thinly disguised campaign event, dubbed by Mitt Romney as the "Magical Misery Tour," was an attempt to re-package the failing former star to appeal us ordinary folks in fly over country.  The new look Obama had his shirt sleeves rolled up (in an attempt to look like he was ready to actually work) and wore tan slacks which by the end of his tour had not only lost their crease (gasp! how un-presidential), but were wrinkled!  Yep, this is the new Obama.  Can anyone imagine him saying things like "We can't eat our seed corn" during the 2008 campaign?
 
In this week's fire-side lecture, recorded live at the Country Corner Farm in Alpha, Illinois, Mr. Obama talked about how he had actually seen hard-working Americans during his tour and how much congress could learn from these folks in America's heartland.

Hello from the Country Corner Farm in Alpha, Illinois! For the past few days, I've been traveling to small towns and farm towns here in the heartland of this country. I sat down with small business owners in Gutenberg, Iowa; and ranchers and farmers in Peosta. I had lunch with veterans in Cannon Falls, Minnesota; and talked to plant workers at a seed distributor in Atkinson, Illinois. And to the girls volleyball team at Maquoketa High School, let me just say one thing: Go Cardinals.

Now, I'm out here for one reason: I think Washington, DC can learn something from the folks in Atkinson and Peosta and Cannon Falls. I think our country would be a whole lot better off if our elected leaders showed the same kind of discipline and integrity and responsibility that most Americans demonstrate in their lives every day.

Because, the fact is, we're going through a tough time right now. We're coming through a terrible recession; a lot of folks are still looking for work. A lot of people are getting by with smaller paychecks or less money in the cash register. So we need folks in Washington - the people whose job it is to deal with the country's problems, the people who you elected to serve - we need them to put aside their differences to get things done.

Gee, Barry no mention of your folksy chat with local Tea Party activist Ryan Rhodes?  Well a three day "listening" tour is bound produce a lot of footage that is going to wind up on the cutting room floor.  It just isn't practical to show everything.  Besides as Barry explained to the inquisitive young man from Iowa, "It doesn't seem like you're interested in listening."  Those hayseeds just don't understand the purpose of a listening tour.

Although initial response to Obama's bus tour has been less than enthusiastic, there may still be a way to re-cut the video to create the illusion of success.  With the technology and expertise available at Obama 2012 Central Command, a cool new version of the video set to music could be produced in a matter of days, not weeks.  Here are a few ideas which could help to fundamentally transform the Obama bus tour video.

Picture if you will Barry O and his fellow travelers boarding the bus to the sounds of "The Great Pretender," "Everybody Loves Me Baby" and "On the Road Again." 

How about Barry O speaking to the folks down at the local fillin' station while the eco-friendly tour bus is being re-fueled to a medley of "Green Dreams," "Blowin' in the Wind," "Ain't no Sunshine" and "Turn Out the Lights."

Maybe a chat with a local farmer out in his corn field accompanied by "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," "The Wildwood Weed" or perhaps the theme from "Hee-Haw" would be fun.

Clips of the candidate in chief at a town hall meeting could feature "Everybody's Talkin' at Me," followed by his melodic response "The Same Old Song," leading into "Promises in the Dark."

Perhaps Barry's civil handling of Tea Party members could be set to the musical strains of "You're No Good," "Don't cha Go Away Mad" and the theme from Obamacare, "Live and Let Die."

How about a jam session on the bus with the White House Press Corps (or is that corpse?), featuring "Spin, Spin, Spin," "Twistin' the Night Away" and "Tell Me Lies?"

A talk about Obamanomics could be spiced up with a few tunes as well.  How about "Running on Empty," "Slip Slidin' Away," "The Hungry Years" or "Victim of Circumstance?"

The grand finale of Barry O's tour could feature "It's Hard to Be Humble," as our headliner boards Air Force One for a well-earned vacation on Martha's Vineyard."

August 20, 2011

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