Kristin
08-14-2003, 03:56 AM
For those of you who don't check out the front page, here's a little article I posted there (by yours truly):
"Politicians conjure Potter"
Politicians and pundits from both the left and the right are trying to benefit from the popularity of the Harry Potter books.
Comparisons are unlikely to end anytime soon as the 2004 presidential race heats up and politicians try to capture some of Harry's popularity. It's an update of the classic Us=Good, Them=Bad. Only this time, it's Us=Harry, Them=Voldemort.
(A Muggle Informer original article.)
So just what is Harry anyway? The boy wizard seems to be an independent, at least so far. And let's not forget that he's not old enough to vote yet anyway. But that hasn't stopped politicians from trying to claim the fictional character for their own party and leave their opponents with the evil Voldemort.
Comparisons are unlikely to end anytime soon as the 2004 presidential race heats up and politicians try to capture some of Harry's popularity. It's an update of the classic Us=Good, Them=Bad. Only this time, it's Us=Harry, Them=Voldemort.
Dennis Kucinich, a representative from Ohio and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004, joins the fray on his blog. He says:
"...the soon to be released 'Harry Potter Challenges the Pentagon' in which Harry Potter takes on Lord Voldemort, and I explained that Lord Voldemort has an insatiable appetite for violence. I pointed out that the increase in the Pentagon budget takes money away from education. As President I intend to cut the waste from the Pentagon budget and put that money right into education. Harry Potter knows that education or Hogwarts is the place where magic is made and we are going to create new magic in the country by rebuilding our education system. I closed by saying, 'Will Harry Potter overcome the power of Lord Voldemort? When I am elected President I intend to restore the educational funding, and I know where the money is.' After the event a young boy and a young girl both came up to me with their brand new copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and asked me to sign them."
In response, one visitor says, "a Harry Potter platform could be fabulous - endless possibilities and analogies - and if Harry Potter, the most famous boy in America, can be irrevocably linked with the name of Dennis Kucinich... you'd have everyone but the religious right..."
Another visitor claims to know the proper mix of the Potter-Politics potion, saying "To [sic] bad Harry Potter is a Libertarian, and wouldn't be in favor of a socialized, nationalized, school system."
Harry Potter a Libertarian? Hmm... We'll have to read the books more carefully. Or maybe Ms. Rowling could offer an official ruling on Harry's preference in U.S. politics.
Alfonso Cuaron, the Mexican director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, famously offered his opinion on the political persuasions of Rowling's characters in an interview with Newsweek:
Does the evil wizard Voldemort still remind him of George W. Bush, as he said recently? "In combination with Saddam," he says. "They both have selfish interests and are very much in love with power. Also, a disregard for the environment. A love for manipulating people. I read books four and five, and Fudge" —Rowling’s slippery Minister of Magic — "is similar to Tony Blair. He’s the ultimate politician. He’s in denial about many things. And everything is for the sake of his own persona, his own power. The way the Iraq thing was handled was not unlike the way Fudge handled affairs in book four."
But Republicans aren't the only ones being saddled with the negative characterization. A column from The National Review Online drops the characters into the California recall mess. The story is cast with "ex-Slytherin Gray Davis, successfully disguised for his adult life as an aspiring Muggle (i.e. human) politician and California's Governor."
A recent column from AmericanDaily puts Harry in the Republicans' corner:
"Just think, Al Gore missed a job promotion by 537 votes, surely Harry Potter could convert that many votes out of the millions and millions of fans he has just in Florida. Combine that with a strong ground game and solid name ID and you have one heck of a presidential candidate for 2004. But wait, not only is Harry Potter not old enough to run for president, he isn’t real! In fact, he isn’t an American citizen nor do we even know if he is a Democrat. Odds are given the recent resurgence in conservatism, he is part of the vast Right-Wing conspiracy and solidly in W’s corner."
A short opinion blurb from The News-Press seems to say that George W. Bush is Harry:
"Like it or not we will be subjected to another term and after that will come letters requesting our aid in constructing still another presidential library. Save the many volumes of 'Harry Potter' your children may have discarded by then and mail them to Texas in response. If we have ever had a president who resembles that bespectacled, remarkable boy in every respect, GWB is he."
Of course, sometimes the similarities are more than philosophical. Large numbers of people have noticed the physical similarity between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Dobby the house-elf from the movie of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
It's unlikely that any political candidate will capture as many votes as J.K. Rowling has readers. But they might as well try. After all, any politician who could enthrall and excite people as much as Harry Potter is guaranteed to win.
© 2003, The Muggle Informer
"Politicians conjure Potter"
Politicians and pundits from both the left and the right are trying to benefit from the popularity of the Harry Potter books.
Comparisons are unlikely to end anytime soon as the 2004 presidential race heats up and politicians try to capture some of Harry's popularity. It's an update of the classic Us=Good, Them=Bad. Only this time, it's Us=Harry, Them=Voldemort.
(A Muggle Informer original article.)
So just what is Harry anyway? The boy wizard seems to be an independent, at least so far. And let's not forget that he's not old enough to vote yet anyway. But that hasn't stopped politicians from trying to claim the fictional character for their own party and leave their opponents with the evil Voldemort.
Comparisons are unlikely to end anytime soon as the 2004 presidential race heats up and politicians try to capture some of Harry's popularity. It's an update of the classic Us=Good, Them=Bad. Only this time, it's Us=Harry, Them=Voldemort.
Dennis Kucinich, a representative from Ohio and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004, joins the fray on his blog. He says:
"...the soon to be released 'Harry Potter Challenges the Pentagon' in which Harry Potter takes on Lord Voldemort, and I explained that Lord Voldemort has an insatiable appetite for violence. I pointed out that the increase in the Pentagon budget takes money away from education. As President I intend to cut the waste from the Pentagon budget and put that money right into education. Harry Potter knows that education or Hogwarts is the place where magic is made and we are going to create new magic in the country by rebuilding our education system. I closed by saying, 'Will Harry Potter overcome the power of Lord Voldemort? When I am elected President I intend to restore the educational funding, and I know where the money is.' After the event a young boy and a young girl both came up to me with their brand new copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and asked me to sign them."
In response, one visitor says, "a Harry Potter platform could be fabulous - endless possibilities and analogies - and if Harry Potter, the most famous boy in America, can be irrevocably linked with the name of Dennis Kucinich... you'd have everyone but the religious right..."
Another visitor claims to know the proper mix of the Potter-Politics potion, saying "To [sic] bad Harry Potter is a Libertarian, and wouldn't be in favor of a socialized, nationalized, school system."
Harry Potter a Libertarian? Hmm... We'll have to read the books more carefully. Or maybe Ms. Rowling could offer an official ruling on Harry's preference in U.S. politics.
Alfonso Cuaron, the Mexican director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, famously offered his opinion on the political persuasions of Rowling's characters in an interview with Newsweek:
Does the evil wizard Voldemort still remind him of George W. Bush, as he said recently? "In combination with Saddam," he says. "They both have selfish interests and are very much in love with power. Also, a disregard for the environment. A love for manipulating people. I read books four and five, and Fudge" —Rowling’s slippery Minister of Magic — "is similar to Tony Blair. He’s the ultimate politician. He’s in denial about many things. And everything is for the sake of his own persona, his own power. The way the Iraq thing was handled was not unlike the way Fudge handled affairs in book four."
But Republicans aren't the only ones being saddled with the negative characterization. A column from The National Review Online drops the characters into the California recall mess. The story is cast with "ex-Slytherin Gray Davis, successfully disguised for his adult life as an aspiring Muggle (i.e. human) politician and California's Governor."
A recent column from AmericanDaily puts Harry in the Republicans' corner:
"Just think, Al Gore missed a job promotion by 537 votes, surely Harry Potter could convert that many votes out of the millions and millions of fans he has just in Florida. Combine that with a strong ground game and solid name ID and you have one heck of a presidential candidate for 2004. But wait, not only is Harry Potter not old enough to run for president, he isn’t real! In fact, he isn’t an American citizen nor do we even know if he is a Democrat. Odds are given the recent resurgence in conservatism, he is part of the vast Right-Wing conspiracy and solidly in W’s corner."
A short opinion blurb from The News-Press seems to say that George W. Bush is Harry:
"Like it or not we will be subjected to another term and after that will come letters requesting our aid in constructing still another presidential library. Save the many volumes of 'Harry Potter' your children may have discarded by then and mail them to Texas in response. If we have ever had a president who resembles that bespectacled, remarkable boy in every respect, GWB is he."
Of course, sometimes the similarities are more than philosophical. Large numbers of people have noticed the physical similarity between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Dobby the house-elf from the movie of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
It's unlikely that any political candidate will capture as many votes as J.K. Rowling has readers. But they might as well try. After all, any politician who could enthrall and excite people as much as Harry Potter is guaranteed to win.
© 2003, The Muggle Informer