Ok, so before I get rolling about the debate that occurred last night, let me first do my duty and blog about something slightly closer to home. i.e. the actual running of my project.
First off, I did head down Route 1 here in College Park and posted on some (very large) signs near Shoppers
As you can see, I used multiple images to make them stand out a bit more. I felt I had to do this not only because the signs are so large, but also because they're in a spot that isn't passed by too many pedestrians, but tons of automobiles. We'll have to see if there's any reaction.
I was very happy to hear from a friend that she went ahead and drew my image on her friend's dorm room whiteboard! She asked me if this still counted as part of my project since it wasn't political. The answer: ABSOLUTELY!!! Please, anyone reading this, feel free to do whatever you want with my image. It makes my project much more interesting. For example, now I am considering doing a something similar on campus chalkboards to advertise my project once stuff to post on starts popping up around campus. (I remember this being used by Students for Ron Paul last semester with some moderate success.)
This leads nicely into my next bit o' news. I have a hunch that things are going to get real political on campus real fast. Here's why.
The UMD Marriage Equality Rally on October 11th, now featuring Senator Ben Cardin (ironically, whose sign I just gave a big ol' thumbs down. But that's the way the coin flips). I'm sure that flyers, posters, chalking, everything is going to spread around like wildfire. And my Post-its and I will be right behind. Not quite sure what the reaction will be like, but that's research, right?
Alright, now on to the debate. Most post-debate articles and polls have indicated that Romney won last night, as he came across as more energetic and practiced next to the POTUS, and made clear statements about the economy that Obama really had no response too. Yet, was this what was spreading all over Twitter and Facebook as the debate was going on? Why of course not. Political imagery would never act so discerningly.
First, though Romney's aggressive debate style might have won him favor with those unsatisfied with Obama, it certainly didn't win him much support from Jim Lehrer fans, as Romney consistently ignored the moderator to address Obama directly. Many felt bad for the 78 year old Lehrer, so much so that he started trending on Twitter. Then came the memes. My favorite is a reference to the Gotye music video for "Somebody That I Used to Know."
In all honesty though, this will probably not affect the campaign or political discourse much. Moderators being unable to restrain candidates is not exactly something new.
But there was something else that Romney did that took the web by storm. What huge, political topic caused such a reaction? Big Bird of course.
Cutting the funds to a loved children's character that the internet generation (and every generation going back to the 1970s) grew up with? Instant memes.
Big Bird was trending on twitter well into today, and the potentially jobless muppet's fake twitter account (@FiredBigBird) now has almost 30,000 followers.
Most political analysts are still trying to make sense of what the Big Bird fiasco means for the campaign as a whole. Never before have we seen politics and pop culture collide in the realm of children's television. Still, it relates well back to my project. An area that had previously held little or no political meaning has now been turned into an arena for political opinions. Though perhaps not in a way that either Mitt Romney or PBS Kids ever anticipated. Bloggers are mostly making light of the whole situation, wondering what this means for Elmo and the Cookie Monster (though can't we assume that Oscar was out of work already? I mean, he lives in a trash can...) Yet, I wonder if the Fire Big Bird debacle might have actual political implications. Those worried primarily about the economy now have a visible, nationwide example of Romney's plan that applies to the whole family, while people who don't like Romney in the first place now have a rallying point to return to for the rest of the campaign. I guess all I know is the next big Romney meme is upon us. Can't wait for the next one ;)
@Post_It_2012
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