In my opinion there are two types of politicians. The first are the ones who are in politics to gain power, for good or bad. People who do most of their work in the background away from the press who rely on word of mouth and grassroots support to get themselves elected to more powerful positions. Some of them never become household names but hold great power through their ability to influence their colleagues. Some even become the leader of their nations and have to learn how to look good for the camera (Bertie Ahern and Gordon Brown spring to mind).
The second group are the media addicts. Politicians who believe no publicity is bad publicity. They may start off with the best intentions, but after they get some media coverage they get hooked. They will do almost anything to get some more TV coverage. Eventually their political minds get overwhelmed with the need to get their next TV camera fix. Sometimes I think they would dance naked in public just to get a 2 minute spot on TV and they would genuinely believe that 2 minute spot will get them elected next time out. And guess what... George Galloway has just that opportunity.
Galloway has gone into the Celebrity Big Brother house in the United Kingdom. Dear God, he is easily the most aggressive, opinionated and argumentative politician in the UK at the moment and now he's on TV 24 hours a day for the next three weeks. His style of politics may win some votes when he is on Newsnight arguing with Jeremy Paxman for 5 minutes or telling a US Senate Committee where to go in a couple of minutes before the cameras. Unfortunately now he could be on TV non-stop for 30240 minutes, more than enough time to piss off every viewer and voter. This is the political equivalent of playing Russian roulette with an automatic pistol. It could make for a fascinating way to end a political career.
No comments:
Post a Comment