Dear Leader

Chris Suellentrop, reporting for Slate from the campaign trail:

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.—"I want you to stand, raise your right hands," and recite "the Bush Pledge," said Florida state Sen. Ken Pruitt. The assembled mass of about 2,000 in this Treasure Coast town about an hour north of West Palm Beach dutifully rose, arms aloft, and repeated after Pruitt: "I care about freedom and liberty. I care about my family. I care about my country. Because I care, I promise to work hard to re-elect, re-elect George W. Bush as president of the United States."

I know the Bush-Cheney campaign occasionally requires the people who attend its events to sign loyalty oaths, but this was the first time I have ever seen an audience actually stand and utter one. Maybe they've replaced the written oath with a verbal one.

The desire for monarchy among red-staters is so palpable that I think American democracy would be best-served if we could elect a Celebrity-in-Chief parallel to the office of the President: a handsome official who could have beers with the commoners, extoll the virtues of Midland-Odessa high school football, and serve as the top ceremonially religious pol in the nation. That way real politicians could, you know, govern rather than cheerlead. Obviously, in writing this story off as bad aesthetics/bad ethics on behalf of the crowd, I'm giving President Bush credit that he doesn't deserve, since he's made it his campaign's business to win the office I've proposed.

(Just imagine, for a moment, how a Kerry Pledge would be received.)

Posted by Kriston at October 30, 2004 6:54 PM