The Daily Plunge

With a little love, and some tenderness
We’ll walk upon the water
We’ll rise above this mess
With a little peace, and some harmony
We’ll take the world together
We’ll take ‘em by the hand
That’s the opening verse to Hootie and the Blowfish’s breakthrough single “Hold My Hand.” I remember 1994 quite clearly. This unknown band from South Carolina came out of nowhere. Soon they were on constant rotation on the radio, VH1, and even ESPN. You couldn’t escape the Blowfish. At first, the ubiquitous presence of Hootie and the aforementioned Blowfish didn’t seem to bother anyone. In fact, we couldn’t get enough of them. They weren’t one-hit wonders. Their second single “Let Her Cry” was even better than “Hold My Hand.” Blowfish singer Darius Rucker (who will always hold a special place in my heart for this) has a great voice. The band’s third single was “Only Want to be With” and it was their biggest hit. The video featured celebrities and ESPN’s Sportscenter. It seemed like America would always love Hootie and the Blowfish. Their debut album, Cracked Rear View, went on to sell over 16 million copies, they won a Grammy for “Best New Artist,” and they appeared on MTV Unplugged.

The follow-up album Fairweather Johnson was a disappointment, but not because it was bad. The first single was a relative success. People were just tired of Hootie. The band broke one of the cardinal rules of Rock ‘n Roll, and of celebrity in general. Do not become overexposed. You have to leave the audience wanting more. If you give people something for free long enough they get tired of it, kind of like public housing and Katie Couric. Does this apply to politics? Well, we’re about to find out. President Obama could and may already have become the Hootie and the Blowfish of presidential politics. They share a few things in common…
Reference the opening verse to “Hold My Hand” I mentioned earlier. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to put those words in Obama’s mouth. In fact, if you close your eyes, empty your mind of all extraneous thoughts, and substitute the soothing and melodic voice of Hootie, or whatever that guy’s name is, with Obama’s teleprompting one, you’ll fine that it’s basically every speech Obama has ever given. It a) sounds great; b) promises peace and harmony; and, c) means practically nothing.

The Katie Couric reference above might seem strange, but I’m sorry, the very mention of her name cracks me up.
Next Tuesday Obama could save everyone a lot of time and just sing “Hold My Hand.” I’m sure the talking heads on MSNBC would call it the greatest speech in American history. At some point the American people will suffer Obama fatigue. People will get tired of seeing him all the time. The last time a president gave a speech before a joint session of Congress that wasn’t a State of the Union was two weeks after the attacks of September 11. What is the crisis that is causing Obama to give a speech? His presidency? Health care is an important issue, but so is the solvency of Social Security.
Obama is burning up the mystique of the White House. Since his inauguration he’s given three prime-time press conferences and a State of the Union address, let NBC and ABC rent the White House, bounced the first pitch at the All Star Game, submitted a bracket on ESPN, and appeared on the Tonight Show. In other words, the President has had a lot of air time to get his message out. At this rate it’s conceivable that the White House could have its own float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, a Christmas Special on all the networks, and for the President to replace Ryan Seacrest at Times Square for the New Year’s Eve festivities.
President Obama needs to pull back and leave the audience waiting for more. Otherwise he’ll end up doing commercials for Burger King.