NY Times Still Finds Obama a 'Rock Star,' Rally Has 'Techno-Dazzle'

May 5th, 2012 11:17 PM

New York Times correspondent Mark Landler hyped Obama the “aging rock star” trying to rekindle the 2008 magic at a rally Saturday in Columbus. It also featured “digital gizmos” that “lent the rally the techno-dazzle of an Apple product introduction.”

The euphoria may be hard to recreate – the media hype then was more effective because it didn’t have three-and-a-half years of reality for rebuttal – but the Times is still deeply impressed:

At times, the rallies had the feeling of a concert by an aging rock star: a few supporters were wearing faded "Hope" and Obama 2008 T-shirts, and cheers went up when the president told people to tell their friends that this campaign was "still about hope" and "still about change."

....In Ohio, digital gizmos lent the rally the techno-dazzle of an Apple product introduction. Attendees could have their pictures taken and posted on a giant screen during the rally. They sent text messages to register for “Backstage with Barack,” a drawing to meet the president. There was also a mobile field office, where supporters sampled life as a volunteer in a campaign office.

No amount of show business, however, can replicate the euphoria of 2008, as some in the audience acknowledged. Roshni Patel, 19, from Columbus, said “the excitement is still high, though maybe not as high as four years ago.” But she said students credited Mr. Obama with trying to create jobs and fighting to keep interest rates low on student loans. “That means a lot to me personally,” she said.

Ms. Patel said she had not really focused much on Mr. Romney, but was inclined to stick with Mr. Obama. “People really think he’s done a lot,” she said. “He killed Bin Laden.”

With his bare hands! Supporters (and reporters) somehow cut out the military heroes when they start their political salesmanship.