Michelle Obama was dispatched to Las Vegas to do an election eve rally for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The problem was, she devoted her time to singing the praises of her previous campaigning efforts for her husband and for her husband's agenda in Washington, not singing the praises of Harry Reid.
It was all Barack, all the time. Reid was forced to stand by, a wan smile on his face, as Mrs. Obama sold her husband's achievements. The most Reid got was an occasional "with Harry's help," Mrs. Obama's way of reminding everyone that Reid played only a supporting role in the Barack Obama show.
Some reports are of a less than full capacity crowd for her efforts:
The gymnasium never quite got filled up at the Harry Reid/Michelle Obama rally today at the Canyon Springs High School in North Las Vegas. (The crowd did, however, feel better about the media.)
Actually, after the mariachi band, after two congresswomen did some impromptu phonebanking on stage, after a doctor friend of Harry Reid’s read a letter about the Senator’s commitment to Democratic social policy, after a 20-minute dance session conducted by the panicked, stalling twentysomething staffers to Miley Cyrus, the crowd had actually thinned a bit.
Some are speculating that the presence of Michelle Obama, with her high popularity numbers, would have been a persuasive tool for get out the vote efforts by struggling Democratic candidates. If she is not filling venues in Vegas with all the union workers and staff at Democrats' disposal, how effective would she have really been elsewhere in the country?
And, if her speech is going to be all about Obama and not the candidate for whom she is appearing, where is the big help? Those Obamas, they do love to talk about themselves. It's their world and we only live in it.
As of election eve, Reid was behind challenger Sharron Angle by several points. We will soon know if the get out the vote efforts succeeded.
No comments:
Post a Comment