The Person is the Message

The medium is the message.
Marshall McLuhan
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
Ralph Waldo Emerson


As the political silly season ramps up and the pressure on the presidential candidates increases in advance of the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas, some dramatic differences in both the behavior and the messages of the campaigns are emerging. To paraphrase McLuhan, it is becoming apparent: The Person is the Message.

Hilary Clinton, a smart and capable woman with an reputation for being a polarizing figure, has morphed both physically and behaviorally in ways that are both a symptom of and a reaction to her political fortunes. Over the last couple of months we have watched as she gone from warm and fuzzy to scolding and derisive, from empathic to antagonistic, apparently in response her handlers view of what she needs to do to combat Barack Obama's growing popularity. At the same time, her appearance has become another mixed message, with bright colors and a more severe hair style emerging as the visual accompaniment to the changing rhetorical melodies. Ironically, these changes in her appearance and behavior only reinforce the message of her critics, that she will stop at nothing to win the nomination and the election.

Barack Obama, whatever his deficiencies in experience may be, has done a better job of sticking to his message which was highlighted by the title of his book "The Audacity of Hope". He has maintained a calm, even demeanor, his usual business attire, and stayed on message in nearly every way, regardless of the outcome of the latest primary. Both his message and his appearance send the message that he is genuine and firmly grounded. You may not vote for him, but he's hard to hate.

John McCain is apparently a fan of Emerson. As a silver haired and aging war hero with a reputation as a political maverick in the Republican party, his personal and political personas are a paradoxical mixed bag, and he seems perfectly comfortable as an enigma. An avowed fiscal conservative who says he doesn't really "understand economics", a Republican who supports abortion rights, a hawk who supports the decision to invade Iraq but is critical of Pentagon management, McCain appears to be an experienced politician and a decent man who believes that foreign policy issues are more important than domestic policy concerns. His message is pragmatic not inspirational, just like the man, and his appearance supports his message--conservative, appropriate to the setting with accomodation for his age and POW-related physical limitations. McCain's overall message is a collection of contradictions, just like the man himself. These complexities add to the challenge of communication for him and his team, a potential stumbling block in competition with an opponent with a simple message.

Of these three candidates, it is McCain and Obama whose message seems to be most consistent and congruent with who these people really are. Hilary Clinton's marked changes in behavior appear to reflect her own internal uncertainty about who she really is and what she believes. People don't always consciously recognize mixed messages, but they seldom like them.

With the general election still months away, this collection of characters will be under increasing pressure from their handlers to make changes to their appearance and presentation to respond to changes in polls and lobbying by influential constituencies. Messages change to meet the circumstances, as they should. The challenge is to send new messages that are congruent with the both the person and with existing messages.

Only time will tell whose message resonates best with the American people, but if the person is truly the message, our next president won't be a woman.