There is a formula emerging for solving that most contemporary of political problems: when a silly gaffe - propelled and amplified by Twitter - distracts from the substantive message.
President Obama and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida have shown recently how to turn fodder for humorous gifs into political gifts.
Frustrated that he has been unable to forge an agreement with Congressional Republicans to prevent automatic budget cuts that take effect on Friday, Mr. Obama issued a mixed science fiction metaphor, saying he could not “somehow do a Jedi mind meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right.â€
Social media and the Web exploded, not with renewed concern about the effects of the so-called sequester or calls for compromise, but with a collective DUH: mind melds are a Vulcan thing, as in “Star Trek,†not a talent of the Jedi knights of “Star Wars.â€
Sheesh.
But, ever fluent in both pop culture and social media, the White House posted a message to its Twitter feed containing an image that embraced themes from both sci-fi franchises - and a convenient U.R.L. that redirects to its sequester section of the White House Web site.
Mr. Rubio, the fast-rising Florida Republican whose rebuttal of the president’s State of the Union ad! dress was drowned out by mockery of his awkward sip of water, offers another case study over a longer period. Almost immediately after the speech, Mr. Rubio sent a picture of the infamous water bottle out to Twitter:
After the self-deprecation came the enrichment: Mr. Rubio’s PAC reportedly made well over $100,000 by selling water bottles to supporters. And just last week, Mr. Rubio had a water-bottle toast with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. What better way to show rapport with a figure so popular with the Republican base than a lighthearted “l’chaim†wth your trademark image
