Yeah, But Not Dave Matthews
April 3, 2008
Its not surprising that a free ticket giveaway would be enough to pull away college students from a rally starring a former President who had less impact on their lives than Elmo, but it IS surprising that the free ticket giveaway that proved to be such a success was for a Dave Matthews Concert.
t was an unexpected showdown of surrogates for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton here Wednesday, and it sure looked like Obama’s representative whipped up the most excitement.
As former President Bill Clinton was extolling his wife’s credentials, Obama’s campaign office in Bloomington began giving away tickets to Sunday’s Dave Matthews concert at Assembly Hall.
Jason Schechtman, 19, Deerfield, Ill., a student at IU, got his tickets about 8 p.m. after waiting more than three hours. He met folks in line who said they’d left the Clinton rally to wait for tickets.
“I was leaning toward Obama, but this sealed the deal for sure,” he said. “The Obama campaign announced this right as (Bill Clinton) was about to speak, and it brought everyone from over there to over here.”
This is an example of incredible in-depth understanding of one’s market. Obama supporters would never be caught dead at a Dave Matthews concert. Thats so…suburban 1990s yuppie tool. If you stood in front of a group of them and waved Bright Eyes tickets, or tickets to a band that no one has ever heard of, but that starts with a “The” and promises to bring emotional music during a four hour special set at the local dive, you might have a shot at distracting a full third of them, but Dave Matthews is the sole purvey of a very particular group of people.
In other words, Obama has discovered that everything about the Clintons is an incredible effort to relive the years 1992-1998, complete with attendant circumstances.
Posted in Uncategorized
April 7th, 2008 at 7:05 am
[...] Barack Obama is the candidate of hope, but most of us have been a little confused about what that means exactly. Now Obama is slowly lending some substance to the rhetoric, by giving away free concert tickets to Ben & Jerry’s favorite band: The Dave Matthews Band. Does Obama plan on giving Dave a cabinet position if he’s elected? That’s hope for you. Maybe he will create a Department of Stoner Jams and make Dave secretary. Wow, the world is looking like a better place already. [...]