Ebony Magazine and the Facebook Generation

Sometime in the early part of 2007, I was waiting in line at a neighborhood grocery store when something strange managed to get my attention.  It was a copy of Ebony magazine.  Usually I wouldn’t look or think twice about something like this but this time I couldn’t help but stare.  The cover had a picture of Barack and Michelle Obama and a caption that said something to the effect of, “The Next President and First Lady of the United States of America.”  My first thoughts were questions like, “what?” and, “are they serious?”  The primary season was several months away from even starting and the path to the White House was strewn with all sorts of difficulties for Senator Obama, not the least of which was the infamous Clinton machine.  Still though, Ebony made its prediction and put it in writing for the whole world to see.

I wondered about Ebony’s bold statement for some time and kept it in the back of my mind.  In the following months, that front cover came to memory especially as I started talking to a number of friends who had genuine hopes of seeing Barack Obama elected.  When discussion would turn to politics, and especially Senator Obama, I listened to what they had to say.  After all, my friends are generally intelligent people and I value their opinions.  At some point I was almost converted and probably would have been had it not been for my conservative roots.  Through the course of time, Senator Obama and his staff worked hard, he emerged as the victor, and Ebony was right!

As strange as Ebony’s prophecy may seem, it really shouldn’t seem that strange, given all of the other weird factors of this election.  Never before have we had a campaign season that was as long as this one.  Never before has this much money been spent.  For the first time in 80 years, neither the president nor the vice president ran.  For the first time in recent memory the president-elect has come from the senate.  What’s more is how many people have been involved in this election, both in campaigning for their candidate of choice or even just voting when they would have otherwise stayed home.  What’s most striking to me though, and what set him apart from his rivals, was Senator Obama’s approach to campaigning.  He seized new tools unavailable or unused in previous elections.  He found a way to reach out to the Facebook Generation and did so effectively by doing things unheard of like sending text messages and organizing Internet groups to garner support.  By speaking to such a mass of people in ways that really resonated with them, he made himself out to be someone you could trust, someone you’d want to hang out with, if you had the chance.  But that was part of his approach—he made you feel that that sort of interaction with him was possible.  Now comes the real test.  Will the Facebook Generation still want to hang out with him in four years?  Let’s hope.