Selling the Sizzle, not the Steak:
Reflections on Day One of the Democratic Convention
The problem the Democrats face in their convention can be likened to the problem that a fishmonger faces, when he or she has to sell a fish that is past its sell-by date. One solution is to relabel it in a way that turns a sow's ear into a silk purse. For example, call it Flounderinia antica or Mackerel le vieux. Another possibility is to wrap it up in a special paper, distract the buyer's attention from the contents, create a sense of excitement and specialness. Testimonials can also help. Bring in one expert who proclaims that this fish doesn't smell at all, while another states that smell enhances the value of a fish. Also helpful is a story: tell how many times this fish has been reeled in, how intensely it struggled, and how it also sought to realize its dinner-bound fate.
I won't belabor the obvious point that all Democrats were at work along these lines last night, but I want to point out that this was also true of the most important and eloquent speech of last night's convention, Michelle Obama's. Indeed, her speech was based on expanding the problem of selling a product no one wants into a theory of the Presidency. The essence of her theory was that style is more important than substance. It's more important, in other words, to judge a President as a role model than to evaluate his or her ideas, leadership capacities, or politics. This brilliantly argued if utterly fallacious theory gave the audience the concept they needed to embrace both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. For Barack Obama, the theory was patently apologetic. The unspoken but obvious idea was that Obama may have followed Bush on all the important things-- the response to the 2007 crash, the "war on terror," and so forth-- but he was a good father, he did not embarrass the country with scandals, and was someone young black children especially could look up to. Similarly, Hillary may be the pawn of banks and the military, a blatant liar and trimmer, a sad example of exhausted ambitions, but with her, little girls will have a role model in the White House.
This idea-- that style is more important than substance-- is deeply rooted in a commercial society such as ours. It is the theory behind advertising, from which my title-- sell the sizzle not the steak-- is drawn. It underlies familiar slogans that run through American history, such as the idea that a sucker is born every minute. It was not invented yesterday, but it has reached its climax in the neoliberal period, when Presidents receive Nobel Prizes for nothing. Bernie Sanders achieved his incredible stature because he so obviously didn't buy this idea, but I have to say that his speech last night was a disappointment to me. The reason is not that he endorsed Hillary, but that he did not talk enough about how her presidency and any presidency will need a continuing movement of the sort he has inspired. I am sure we all got his email after the speech, saying he was launching a movement "our revolution." That should have been in the speech.