Although it has to be said that Mrs Cameron isn't the most exciting person in the world to watch, her natural and genuine demeanour comes across well enough.
I don't know whether or not WebSamCameron will be as much of a success as the Conservatives' campaign team hope, but I think it will turn out to be an asset, even if not all that big an asset, rather than a negative. This first effort covers the Camerons' Good Friday visit to a youth club in Hackney...
UPDATE: As the Quiet Man reminds us in the comments,all of this spouse-centred stuff must not be a distraction from the real issues; but in the present climate (and blame the women's Hello!-style magazines for this!) we are going to have such coverage anyway, fuelled mainly by what started in the Blair period and continued by Sarah Brown.
Taking the initiative, using an existing facility (WebCameron), is probably the best – or least bad – approach, and will at least take some of the initiative away from those Mrs Browns of this world who have sought to manipulate matters for their own ends. In the end, it'll probably become the antidote to Sarah Brown's PR-style efforts, and the public will wise-up.
In the meantime, we need to go through all this (and at least it isn't bad when it's Mrs Cameron, even I have to admit) so that the public-at-large can – hopefully – mature beyond their current stage of morbid fascination with celebrities' lives in general, which I find embarrassing on behalf of the human race.
I rather wish they wouldn't do this, I'm sure she's a lovely woman (as is Sarah Brown) but she's a distraction from the issues and policies. Politics has swayed far too much into personalities (I blame Blair) and not enough on issues.
ReplyDeleteIf one were to get fixated on this, then yes, I'd agree.
ReplyDeleteMy approach has been more multi-dimensional, and to treat this as in addition to, rather than instead of, what is still going on in the main policy arena.
Yes, it was started by Blair, but seemingly enthusiastically (and in a cold and calculated manner) by Sarah Brown. It has therefore become important (though not yet essential) to counteract that.
For the time being, we are still stuck with it; but hopefully after the next election it can be played down and it might even fade away completely –at least until the SamCam "bump" becomes a talking point, and until after the birth.
Soon after that, the paparazzi will lose interest for a decent period.