Least talented contestant goes home on ‘Idol’
Jason Castro seemed like he’d gotten in way over his head
COMMENTARY
By Craig Berman
MSNBC contributor
updated 11:05 p.m. ET, Wed., May. 7, 2008
It’s been a tough week for “American Idol,” which made the news for its declining viewership and the unfortunate Paula Abdul comments on last week’s show stand out that much more. Fortunately, the “Idol” fans helped make things a little brighter for the show’s final two weeks by evicting the contestant who least deserved to be in the final three.
It was obvious after Tuesday night that Jason Castro was ready to go. He struggled with his first song, forgot the words to his second, and didn’t make any case for himself to stay in the post-performance interviews with Ryan Seacrest. Had he made it into the final three after a night like that, the scrutiny on both him and the show would have only increased.
Over the past few weeks, Castro has had the look of someone who entered a contest on a dare only to find himself drawn in way too deep for comfort. As the going got tougher and the demands kept increasing, Castro had a harder time keeping up with the competition.
That doesn’t mean he won’t make it in the business. His sound translates well to both radio and the stage, he has a likeable personality, and he could easily wind up with the best musical career of the remaining finalists. Kellie Pickler was the resident “Idol” doofus two seasons ago and has done just fine since, using both her personality and her voice.
On Tuesday night, however, Castro sounded much closer to Sanjaya Malakar, the finalist a year ago who made news for lasting much longer than anyone had expected. In fact, Castro’s two Tuesday performances were a lot worse than anything managed during Malakar’s time on the show. While other contestants have put up poor performances even after making the finals, Castro’s effort on Tuesday was the worst ever at this stage of the competition.
Even that might have been forgivable if Castro gave the impression that he was trying at all. Instead, he did the opposite.
‘I shot the Tambourine Man’
Nobody really knows how hard Castro worked each week. It’s very possible that he was staying up into the wee hours of the morning every day making sure his performance would be as good as it could possibly be.
On Wednesday’s show, he admitted that it was getting tougher for him and cited his inexperience as a hurdle. Each week, it seemed like he was unfamiliar with the material (not knowing that the musical “Cats” involved songs sung by characters portraying cats was a particular highlight), so he may have had to fight as hard as everyone else just to perform as well as he has.
But his stage persona gave off the opposite impression. He’d always played the happy-go-lucky dude who looked like he just woke up, grabbed his guitar, and belted out some random song. He smiled gratefully when complimented and sheepishly when criticized, but never looked like he belonged. That came through in his performances, as he always smiled and played to the audience as though they were sharing an inside joke.
On Wednesday, in response to a caller question about the contestants’ most challenging experience on “Idol,” Castro answered “Uhhh … the brain being dead.” Later, as he stood onstage in the bottom two with Syesha Mercado, he quipped “Somebody told me that I shot the Tambourine Man yesterday. I thought that was pretty funny.”
But he also said that he had followed Simon Cowell’s advice and packed his suitcase. He was ready to go, and the viewers kindly sent him on his way.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
‘Dancing’ costumes cha-cha for charity
Q: I am a huge fan of "Dancing With the Stars." I was wondering what they do with all the costumes once the show is over. Do they keep them, donate them, or do the stars/professionals keep them? — Rhonda, Grand Rapids, Mich.
A: The costume designer, Randall Christensen, sells the garments on his Web site. In other words, you can own the dresses you've seen on the show, even if they're over-the-top or the subject of criticism from the judges or the dancers themselves.
Christensen, the show's Emmy-winning costume designer, issued a press release before this season began, and it said dresses from "Dancing With the Stars" "have become available online for purchase to dancing enthusiasts at his Web site, a trend he intends to continue once the upcoming season draws to a close. ... By auctioning off dresses worn by the stars during previous seasons, Randall is able to donate proceeds from those auctions to various charities, such as organizations supporting the fight against AIDS."
Right now, only dresses for seasons two through five are available, although many have been sold. Those from season five are priced between about $2,000 and $5,000 each. If that seems high, a lot of work goes into each dress. Last spring, The Insider visited Christensen in the costume room and reported that "it's not unusual to spend 12 hours stitching beads on a single gown."
By the way, the celebrities and dancers don't dance in their costumes until the day of the live show. That's because they all have to be made from scratch in less than a week. The dancing couples meet with Christensen to brainstorm ideas, and then while they're rehearsing their performances, the costume designers are working.
A: The costume designer, Randall Christensen, sells the garments on his Web site. In other words, you can own the dresses you've seen on the show, even if they're over-the-top or the subject of criticism from the judges or the dancers themselves.
Christensen, the show's Emmy-winning costume designer, issued a press release before this season began, and it said dresses from "Dancing With the Stars" "have become available online for purchase to dancing enthusiasts at his Web site, a trend he intends to continue once the upcoming season draws to a close. ... By auctioning off dresses worn by the stars during previous seasons, Randall is able to donate proceeds from those auctions to various charities, such as organizations supporting the fight against AIDS."
Right now, only dresses for seasons two through five are available, although many have been sold. Those from season five are priced between about $2,000 and $5,000 each. If that seems high, a lot of work goes into each dress. Last spring, The Insider visited Christensen in the costume room and reported that "it's not unusual to spend 12 hours stitching beads on a single gown."
By the way, the celebrities and dancers don't dance in their costumes until the day of the live show. That's because they all have to be made from scratch in less than a week. The dancing couples meet with Christensen to brainstorm ideas, and then while they're rehearsing their performances, the costume designers are working.
anony
It is definitely either Marissa or Jason's time. Marissa is improving, but she really struggled tonight with her dances. Jason has a large wingspan and is graceful, but he is a terrible latin dancer. That is what took down Shannon Elizabeth. Mario is good, but he lacks a defining dance. Christian sello su lugar en el final (sealed his place in the final) with the dance. Marissa's clock has struck midnight.
Injured arm doesn’t stop Cristián on ‘Dancing’
Injured arm doesn’t stop Cristián on ‘Dancing’
Against the odds, last week’s last place dancer tops the leaderboard
COMMENTARY
By Ree Hines
MSNBC contributor
updated 11:46 p.m. ET, Mon., May. 5, 2008
Just like last week, the celebrity hoofers from “Dancing With the Stars” took on both ballroom basics and Latin routines Monday night. To mix things up this time around, the stars had a chance to add a little more excitement and occasional altitude to the usual steps, thanks to judge Len Goodman’s recently enacted lenient lift rule. But the real action didn’t come from the dancers’ newfound freedom to toss their partners into the air.
The biggest moves of the night were on the leaderboard. It wasn’t just that Kristi Yamaguchi landed a second-place repeat, or even the fact that Jason Taylor wasn’t the one to steal her spot. No, this time, the surprise was how an injured Cristián de la Fuente managed to steal the show with one arm tied behind his back.
Getting into the groove
When the evening kicked off Kristi faced her first chance to reclaim her “Dancing” queen status. She said the abrupt end to her six-week streak left her more determined than ever before, and that inspired effort showed in her quickstep. The only unfortunate choice in the dance was the long, leg-obscuring gown Kristi wore, as it minimized the view of her precision footwork. The number closed with Mark Ballas hefting her onto his shoulder in the first and most modest lift of the evening.
Both Len and Bruno Tonioli praised the dance, complimenting the varied tempo and flow, but Carrie Ann Inaba, no longer able to wax annoying about lift infractions, claimed Kristi started the routine out of synch. The other panelists looked at Carrie Ann like she was out of her mind.
The one point knocked off for that hard-to-spot (and likely non-existent) synch issue, left Kristi heading into the next dance with a 29. Unfortunately, the samba wasn’t a worthy follow up. Despite some impressive spins, the awkward, body-shaking number fell flat with the judges and only managed a meager 26 points.
In rehearsals, Mario worked on his big ballroom weakness, stiffness — as in not enough of it. Karina Smirnoff played posture taskmaster until she deemed him, “almost as stiff as rusty old Len.” Way to kiss up to the head judge, Karina.
The two took the floor for a not-so-limber Viennese waltz, and aced it. Showing more control in the waltz than his faulty foxtrot last week, Mario moved with grace and only minimal foot flubs. Len said watching Mario dance was usually like watching Britney Spears get out of a car, “It’s not very elegant. Sometimes you see things you’d rather not,” but he added, “Tonight I thought that was marvelous.”
And the set of nines from the judges backed that up. In an almost repeat, Mario scored just one point less for his jive effort. Though Bruno applauded the rock ’n roll, youthful feel of the dance, Len didn’t care for it. Still, with 53 out of 60 overall, it could have been worse.
Falling behind
Undaunted by her bottom two finish last week, Marissa Jaret Winokur is in it to win it. “When I started out, I just wanted to prove that you didn’t have to be a size 2 to dance,” she said in rehearsals. “Now that I’ve gotten this far, I kind of want to win.” She still has a long way to go on the dance floor to back that up.
In her foxtrot, Marissa let her big Broadway personality shine, maintaining a sense of elegance while still going for the larger-than-life gestures. That’s the part what bothered Bruno, who felt like he was watching Ethel Merman stomp her way through a routine. Still, the resulting 25 points were fair enough.
The mambo didn’t work any better for Marissa. In fact, ambitious moves like a Kristi-esque spin backfired with the judges. Carrie Ann felt the flaws in the “pepper pot” spin were even worse since “Kristi just nailed it.” That left Marissa firmly in the back of the pack with 50 for the night.
Last week’s leader, Jason Taylor took a beating Monday after an inconsistent showing. His tango blew the judges away with intense footwork and impeccable timing. Well, all of the judges except for cranky Len, who felt into was a bit too “Argentinean.” Bruno reminded Len that the dance itself originated in Argentina, but the panel tiff aside, they called it almost perfect and gave it a 29.
It all went downhill with the samba. Jason displayed plenty of flexibility and hip shaking, but the flamboyant attempt failed to impress, even with the help of Edyta Sliwinska’s huge vertical lift. After knocking Kristi off the top spot last week, Jason barely beat Marissa with 52 points.
Best at his worst
Returning from a rough week that included a last place finish and a ruptured tendon in his left arm, Cristián de la Fuente surprised everyone with his knack for one-armed dancing. His tango, oddly set to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” made for one of the best of the season. Somehow Cristián, aided largely by creative choreography from pro partner Cheryl Burke, danced better down a limb.
“You are the man with the golden arm,” Bruno exclaimed before the panel gave him a 28 for the routine. When Cristián came back for the mambo, he only needed to match that score to lead the night. But he did one (point) better.
Toe leads, one-armed lifts and perfect posture should have earned the dance a perfect score. It would have, had it not been point-stingy Len. After Cristián raked in the 29 and a standing O from the audience, he reckoned, “We should have started dancing with one arm way before!”
Which star is destined to exit before the “Dancing” finals? This is the point in the competition where there are just no blatantly bad dancers to cut, so it’s all about the viewer votes. Despite Mario’s higher than usual score, his fans have let him down before. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him in the red light, but with Marissa expecting bottom two-déjà vu and boasting the lowest overall score of the night, the R&B star should be safe.
Ree Hines is a regular contributor to msnbc.com.
Against the odds, last week’s last place dancer tops the leaderboard
COMMENTARY
By Ree Hines
MSNBC contributor
updated 11:46 p.m. ET, Mon., May. 5, 2008
Just like last week, the celebrity hoofers from “Dancing With the Stars” took on both ballroom basics and Latin routines Monday night. To mix things up this time around, the stars had a chance to add a little more excitement and occasional altitude to the usual steps, thanks to judge Len Goodman’s recently enacted lenient lift rule. But the real action didn’t come from the dancers’ newfound freedom to toss their partners into the air.
The biggest moves of the night were on the leaderboard. It wasn’t just that Kristi Yamaguchi landed a second-place repeat, or even the fact that Jason Taylor wasn’t the one to steal her spot. No, this time, the surprise was how an injured Cristián de la Fuente managed to steal the show with one arm tied behind his back.
Getting into the groove
When the evening kicked off Kristi faced her first chance to reclaim her “Dancing” queen status. She said the abrupt end to her six-week streak left her more determined than ever before, and that inspired effort showed in her quickstep. The only unfortunate choice in the dance was the long, leg-obscuring gown Kristi wore, as it minimized the view of her precision footwork. The number closed with Mark Ballas hefting her onto his shoulder in the first and most modest lift of the evening.
Both Len and Bruno Tonioli praised the dance, complimenting the varied tempo and flow, but Carrie Ann Inaba, no longer able to wax annoying about lift infractions, claimed Kristi started the routine out of synch. The other panelists looked at Carrie Ann like she was out of her mind.
The one point knocked off for that hard-to-spot (and likely non-existent) synch issue, left Kristi heading into the next dance with a 29. Unfortunately, the samba wasn’t a worthy follow up. Despite some impressive spins, the awkward, body-shaking number fell flat with the judges and only managed a meager 26 points.
In rehearsals, Mario worked on his big ballroom weakness, stiffness — as in not enough of it. Karina Smirnoff played posture taskmaster until she deemed him, “almost as stiff as rusty old Len.” Way to kiss up to the head judge, Karina.
The two took the floor for a not-so-limber Viennese waltz, and aced it. Showing more control in the waltz than his faulty foxtrot last week, Mario moved with grace and only minimal foot flubs. Len said watching Mario dance was usually like watching Britney Spears get out of a car, “It’s not very elegant. Sometimes you see things you’d rather not,” but he added, “Tonight I thought that was marvelous.”
And the set of nines from the judges backed that up. In an almost repeat, Mario scored just one point less for his jive effort. Though Bruno applauded the rock ’n roll, youthful feel of the dance, Len didn’t care for it. Still, with 53 out of 60 overall, it could have been worse.
Falling behind
Undaunted by her bottom two finish last week, Marissa Jaret Winokur is in it to win it. “When I started out, I just wanted to prove that you didn’t have to be a size 2 to dance,” she said in rehearsals. “Now that I’ve gotten this far, I kind of want to win.” She still has a long way to go on the dance floor to back that up.
In her foxtrot, Marissa let her big Broadway personality shine, maintaining a sense of elegance while still going for the larger-than-life gestures. That’s the part what bothered Bruno, who felt like he was watching Ethel Merman stomp her way through a routine. Still, the resulting 25 points were fair enough.
The mambo didn’t work any better for Marissa. In fact, ambitious moves like a Kristi-esque spin backfired with the judges. Carrie Ann felt the flaws in the “pepper pot” spin were even worse since “Kristi just nailed it.” That left Marissa firmly in the back of the pack with 50 for the night.
Last week’s leader, Jason Taylor took a beating Monday after an inconsistent showing. His tango blew the judges away with intense footwork and impeccable timing. Well, all of the judges except for cranky Len, who felt into was a bit too “Argentinean.” Bruno reminded Len that the dance itself originated in Argentina, but the panel tiff aside, they called it almost perfect and gave it a 29.
It all went downhill with the samba. Jason displayed plenty of flexibility and hip shaking, but the flamboyant attempt failed to impress, even with the help of Edyta Sliwinska’s huge vertical lift. After knocking Kristi off the top spot last week, Jason barely beat Marissa with 52 points.
Best at his worst
Returning from a rough week that included a last place finish and a ruptured tendon in his left arm, Cristián de la Fuente surprised everyone with his knack for one-armed dancing. His tango, oddly set to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” made for one of the best of the season. Somehow Cristián, aided largely by creative choreography from pro partner Cheryl Burke, danced better down a limb.
“You are the man with the golden arm,” Bruno exclaimed before the panel gave him a 28 for the routine. When Cristián came back for the mambo, he only needed to match that score to lead the night. But he did one (point) better.
Toe leads, one-armed lifts and perfect posture should have earned the dance a perfect score. It would have, had it not been point-stingy Len. After Cristián raked in the 29 and a standing O from the audience, he reckoned, “We should have started dancing with one arm way before!”
Which star is destined to exit before the “Dancing” finals? This is the point in the competition where there are just no blatantly bad dancers to cut, so it’s all about the viewer votes. Despite Mario’s higher than usual score, his fans have let him down before. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him in the red light, but with Marissa expecting bottom two-déjà vu and boasting the lowest overall score of the night, the R&B star should be safe.
Ree Hines is a regular contributor to msnbc.com.
Who's More Red, White and Blue-Collar?
Who's More Red, White and Blue-Collar?
With a Boilermaker Here and a Bowling Ball There, Obama and Clinton Try to Win Over Middle America
By Eli Saslow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 6, 2008; A01
LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- If he weren't so busy waiting tables at O'Charley's or scanning Wal-Mart for discount meat to feed his four kids, Scott Winschief thinks he might make a pretty good candidate for president of the United States. For the past six months, he has watched on television in his double-wide mobile home as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have traveled around the country and imitated his lifestyle. Badly.
They posed for photos in the same kind of factory where Winschief, 44, pinched a nerve in his back hauling 1,800-pound coils of wire in 140-degree heat. They visited bars and drained pints of the domestic beer that fills Winschief's fridge. They toured barns occupied by animals like the ones he fed at 4 a.m. every day so he could pay for a few years of college. They reminisced about shooting guns like the ones displayed inside almost every house in his rural neighborhood.
The presidential race has turned into a riveting competition for ordinariness, as both campaigns have concluded that whoever does a better job of winning over voters like Winschief -- an average blue-collar man in an average American town of 60,000 -- is more likely to triumph in Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.
Identifying with the common man has been a requisite in presidential elections for almost two centuries. But the stakes are especially high in a race largely defined by an economic crisis, and campaign experts say the candidates have gone especially far in their appeals.
In the past six weeks, Clinton hammered down a shot of Crown Royal whiskey -- not necessarily the first choice of the workingman -- and chased it with a beer. Obama visited a Pennsylvania sports bar and sampled a Yuengling after making sure it wasn't "some designer beer." Clinton told stories about learning to shoot behind the cottage her grandfather built. Obama went bowling.
Whether these voyeurs of blue-collar existence yield results depends on how people like Winschief perceive them. Are these genuine attempts at connection or overly calculated tactics to win voters? Are they telling moments that reveal a candidate's humanity or patronizing charades that reveal a candidate's guile?
Last Tuesday night, Winschief cradled his custom-made bowling ball at Arrowhead Bowl in downtown Lafayette. It was league night, a staple of his schedule for the past decade, and he shuffled a deck of Hooters playing cards on the table in front of him and gulped Miller Lite from a plastic cup. One of Winschief's teammates mentioned Obama's recent misadventures at a bowling alley, where he rolled a succession of gutter balls (with the help of a couple of young children who rolled a couple of frames) en route to a score of 37. The friend wondered whether there was an adult in Lafayette who couldn't beat Obama's abysmal total.
Winschief, an undecided Democrat, pondered this for a second as he glanced up at his own score -- 164 with three of 10 frames left to bowl.
"I love him for trying, but that's awful," he said. "A 37? It kind of makes you wonder why he's even bowling in the first place."
Presidential candidates have strived relentlessly downward in social class ever since the 1840s, when William Henry Harrison created what historians now call the "common-man myth." While most of his peers campaigned from their estates, Harrison traveled the country and spoke under a banner depicting a log cabin and a bottle of hard cider. He won the presidency by a landslide, and his campaign model became the new standard.
With few exemptions since, American voters have picked presidents who mimic the public's most ordinary habits -- men who regularly mention drinking, or NASCAR, or old-fashioned farm work. Ronald Reagan liked to be photographed chopping wood. George H.W. Bush spoke longingly about pork rinds. Bill Clinton stopped at McDonald's while on the campaign trial, even when it required a side trip. And George W. Bush is a champion brush-clearer.
Disruption to this role-playing occurs only when a politician makes a blunder so glaring that it reveals him to be a jester in costume. Gerald Ford bit into a tamale without husking it while campaigning on the Mexican border in 1976, and he extolled its deliciousness before realizing he had consumed the wrapper. John F. Kerry ordered a cheesesteak at Pat's in Philadelphia and asked for Swiss cheese, even though Pat's had specialized in subs with Cheez Whiz for 70 years.
In 1994, George W. Bush arranged for several media outlets to follow him on the first day of dove-hunting season. He fired his gun, killed a bird and looked like a real woodsman until officials identified his kill as a Texas songbird, a protected species easily distinguished from doves by experienced hunters. Bush paid a $130 fine.
"If you can look like the common man and make your opponent appear out of touch, you've pretty much won the election," said Richard Shenkman, a George Mason professor who has written several books about presidential campaigning. "The American people, given the choice between reality and the myth, almost always pick the myth. . . . We tell ourselves their average day is just like ours."
Last Tuesday morning, Winschief woke up at his home in the outskirts of Lafayette and took a shower using water from the well he had helped drill a decade earlier. His wife, a nurse who works the overnight shift at a hospital for an extra $2 per hour, wouldn't return home for 30 minutes. He hadn't seen her since Saturday.
A few minutes after she returned, Winschief would leave for his shift as a waiter at O'Charley's, a family restaurant in the parking lot of the Tippecanoe Mall. The other servers are mostly college women from nearby Purdue University, and Winschief sometimes feels awkward for being "as old as everybody's dad." But this job is better than working as the overnight manager at IHOP, where he considered $1 tips generous. It's also better than bending over to bake enamel onto wires for 70 hours each week at a Lafayette factory.
"All things considered," he said, "this is probably the best job I've ever had."
Except for one major drawback: The drive to O'Charley's is 22 miles, requiring a daily total of four gallons of gas, or $15, in Winschief's old truck. Already "in debt up to my eyeballs" after buying six acres of land in New Richmond for $15,000, he never considered moving closer to Lafayette, where property costs five times as much. Plus, he grew up on an Indiana farm and he wants his kids -- ages 17, 15 and 13-year-old twins -- to fish in their own pond and drive their four-wheelers in peace.
To save money for gas, Winschief started collecting scrap metal and discarded aluminum cans from the side of the road on the way to work. Just last week, he recycled a three-pound bag of beer cans and earned $21. His kids teased him for being "pathetic" -- until he used the money to put gas in their four-wheelers.
Tuesday's lunch shift at O'Charley's dragged by in a painful lull, and Winschief sat in a booth at 4 p.m. and counted his tips. He had made about $43, a break-even sum after the round-trip drive to work and bowling. A few years ago, he considered giving up bowling to save money before deciding he would rather go broke. He met his first wife and his current wife at bowling alleys, and he spends the week looking forward to his three hours at Arrowhead.
Winschief polished off a few drinks after work, changed into a Miller Lite T-shirt and drove to the bowling alley to meet his four teammates. If they out-bowled the team from Dilley Crane Service tonight, his team would win the league title and earn back $18 in fees. "High stakes," Winschief said. "I'm not sure if this is fun or making me nervous."
As they took turns bowling, the five men talked about politics. Cliff Albea, a dissatisfied former Republican who stamps logos on cigarette packs for a grocery distributor, thought he might vote for Clinton because he liked her conviction about high gas prices. John Gilmore, a recently retired mechanic, favored Obama because "I can't really bring myself to vote for a woman." Randy Garrett, a Republican who disposes waste for a medical company, felt lucky that Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, could lie low while "the Democrats make fools of themselves."
Winschief decided he would probably vote for Obama, despite his unfortunate 37. "He might not be a natural bowler," Winschief said, "but at least the guy isn't afraid to see what we like and get to know us."
On a television mounted to the wall behind Winschief, the local news rolled clips from the presidential race. Clinton chatted with factory workers in Indiana. Obama sweated through his T-shirt during a pickup basketball game.
The two candidates spoke into cameras about high gas prices, and about how everybody is feeling squeezed right now. Then they were whisked off in motorcades, headed back to their private jets. They looked exhausted, like they couldn't wait for a break from Winschief's life.
With a Boilermaker Here and a Bowling Ball There, Obama and Clinton Try to Win Over Middle America
By Eli Saslow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 6, 2008; A01
LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- If he weren't so busy waiting tables at O'Charley's or scanning Wal-Mart for discount meat to feed his four kids, Scott Winschief thinks he might make a pretty good candidate for president of the United States. For the past six months, he has watched on television in his double-wide mobile home as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have traveled around the country and imitated his lifestyle. Badly.
They posed for photos in the same kind of factory where Winschief, 44, pinched a nerve in his back hauling 1,800-pound coils of wire in 140-degree heat. They visited bars and drained pints of the domestic beer that fills Winschief's fridge. They toured barns occupied by animals like the ones he fed at 4 a.m. every day so he could pay for a few years of college. They reminisced about shooting guns like the ones displayed inside almost every house in his rural neighborhood.
The presidential race has turned into a riveting competition for ordinariness, as both campaigns have concluded that whoever does a better job of winning over voters like Winschief -- an average blue-collar man in an average American town of 60,000 -- is more likely to triumph in Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.
Identifying with the common man has been a requisite in presidential elections for almost two centuries. But the stakes are especially high in a race largely defined by an economic crisis, and campaign experts say the candidates have gone especially far in their appeals.
In the past six weeks, Clinton hammered down a shot of Crown Royal whiskey -- not necessarily the first choice of the workingman -- and chased it with a beer. Obama visited a Pennsylvania sports bar and sampled a Yuengling after making sure it wasn't "some designer beer." Clinton told stories about learning to shoot behind the cottage her grandfather built. Obama went bowling.
Whether these voyeurs of blue-collar existence yield results depends on how people like Winschief perceive them. Are these genuine attempts at connection or overly calculated tactics to win voters? Are they telling moments that reveal a candidate's humanity or patronizing charades that reveal a candidate's guile?
Last Tuesday night, Winschief cradled his custom-made bowling ball at Arrowhead Bowl in downtown Lafayette. It was league night, a staple of his schedule for the past decade, and he shuffled a deck of Hooters playing cards on the table in front of him and gulped Miller Lite from a plastic cup. One of Winschief's teammates mentioned Obama's recent misadventures at a bowling alley, where he rolled a succession of gutter balls (with the help of a couple of young children who rolled a couple of frames) en route to a score of 37. The friend wondered whether there was an adult in Lafayette who couldn't beat Obama's abysmal total.
Winschief, an undecided Democrat, pondered this for a second as he glanced up at his own score -- 164 with three of 10 frames left to bowl.
"I love him for trying, but that's awful," he said. "A 37? It kind of makes you wonder why he's even bowling in the first place."
Presidential candidates have strived relentlessly downward in social class ever since the 1840s, when William Henry Harrison created what historians now call the "common-man myth." While most of his peers campaigned from their estates, Harrison traveled the country and spoke under a banner depicting a log cabin and a bottle of hard cider. He won the presidency by a landslide, and his campaign model became the new standard.
With few exemptions since, American voters have picked presidents who mimic the public's most ordinary habits -- men who regularly mention drinking, or NASCAR, or old-fashioned farm work. Ronald Reagan liked to be photographed chopping wood. George H.W. Bush spoke longingly about pork rinds. Bill Clinton stopped at McDonald's while on the campaign trial, even when it required a side trip. And George W. Bush is a champion brush-clearer.
Disruption to this role-playing occurs only when a politician makes a blunder so glaring that it reveals him to be a jester in costume. Gerald Ford bit into a tamale without husking it while campaigning on the Mexican border in 1976, and he extolled its deliciousness before realizing he had consumed the wrapper. John F. Kerry ordered a cheesesteak at Pat's in Philadelphia and asked for Swiss cheese, even though Pat's had specialized in subs with Cheez Whiz for 70 years.
In 1994, George W. Bush arranged for several media outlets to follow him on the first day of dove-hunting season. He fired his gun, killed a bird and looked like a real woodsman until officials identified his kill as a Texas songbird, a protected species easily distinguished from doves by experienced hunters. Bush paid a $130 fine.
"If you can look like the common man and make your opponent appear out of touch, you've pretty much won the election," said Richard Shenkman, a George Mason professor who has written several books about presidential campaigning. "The American people, given the choice between reality and the myth, almost always pick the myth. . . . We tell ourselves their average day is just like ours."
Last Tuesday morning, Winschief woke up at his home in the outskirts of Lafayette and took a shower using water from the well he had helped drill a decade earlier. His wife, a nurse who works the overnight shift at a hospital for an extra $2 per hour, wouldn't return home for 30 minutes. He hadn't seen her since Saturday.
A few minutes after she returned, Winschief would leave for his shift as a waiter at O'Charley's, a family restaurant in the parking lot of the Tippecanoe Mall. The other servers are mostly college women from nearby Purdue University, and Winschief sometimes feels awkward for being "as old as everybody's dad." But this job is better than working as the overnight manager at IHOP, where he considered $1 tips generous. It's also better than bending over to bake enamel onto wires for 70 hours each week at a Lafayette factory.
"All things considered," he said, "this is probably the best job I've ever had."
Except for one major drawback: The drive to O'Charley's is 22 miles, requiring a daily total of four gallons of gas, or $15, in Winschief's old truck. Already "in debt up to my eyeballs" after buying six acres of land in New Richmond for $15,000, he never considered moving closer to Lafayette, where property costs five times as much. Plus, he grew up on an Indiana farm and he wants his kids -- ages 17, 15 and 13-year-old twins -- to fish in their own pond and drive their four-wheelers in peace.
To save money for gas, Winschief started collecting scrap metal and discarded aluminum cans from the side of the road on the way to work. Just last week, he recycled a three-pound bag of beer cans and earned $21. His kids teased him for being "pathetic" -- until he used the money to put gas in their four-wheelers.
Tuesday's lunch shift at O'Charley's dragged by in a painful lull, and Winschief sat in a booth at 4 p.m. and counted his tips. He had made about $43, a break-even sum after the round-trip drive to work and bowling. A few years ago, he considered giving up bowling to save money before deciding he would rather go broke. He met his first wife and his current wife at bowling alleys, and he spends the week looking forward to his three hours at Arrowhead.
Winschief polished off a few drinks after work, changed into a Miller Lite T-shirt and drove to the bowling alley to meet his four teammates. If they out-bowled the team from Dilley Crane Service tonight, his team would win the league title and earn back $18 in fees. "High stakes," Winschief said. "I'm not sure if this is fun or making me nervous."
As they took turns bowling, the five men talked about politics. Cliff Albea, a dissatisfied former Republican who stamps logos on cigarette packs for a grocery distributor, thought he might vote for Clinton because he liked her conviction about high gas prices. John Gilmore, a recently retired mechanic, favored Obama because "I can't really bring myself to vote for a woman." Randy Garrett, a Republican who disposes waste for a medical company, felt lucky that Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, could lie low while "the Democrats make fools of themselves."
Winschief decided he would probably vote for Obama, despite his unfortunate 37. "He might not be a natural bowler," Winschief said, "but at least the guy isn't afraid to see what we like and get to know us."
On a television mounted to the wall behind Winschief, the local news rolled clips from the presidential race. Clinton chatted with factory workers in Indiana. Obama sweated through his T-shirt during a pickup basketball game.
The two candidates spoke into cameras about high gas prices, and about how everybody is feeling squeezed right now. Then they were whisked off in motorcades, headed back to their private jets. They looked exhausted, like they couldn't wait for a break from Winschief's life.
Monday, May 5, 2008
7 Things You Must Do in an Interview
7 Things You Must Do in an Interview
Aileen Pincus, BusinessWeek.com, Yahoo! HotJobs
When you are looking to make the Big Leap -- the one that puts you closer to the power centers of a business or organization -- the interview process will likely be different from what you've experienced before. The more senior the person or people you're interviewing with, the more definite their ideas are likely to be about what they're looking for. They know that their own continued success depends on hiring the best people.
So how do you prove your readiness for the big leagues? By thinking like a big-league player. This interview will be different from others, but it will be your best chance to impress the decisionmakers, so there are some key points you want to be certain you get across. Here are tips to help you succeed:
Show You Get the "Big Picture"
Any number of interview candidates may possess specific subject-knowledge valuable to a business. But the candidate who goes beyond mere information and displays an ability to use it well is more likely to get the job. Senior executives and managers generally want people who pay attention to and understand the broader view.
Tip: Demonstrate you recognize patterns and understand their importance; that you know how to use and synthesize information.
Find Out What Keeps the Boss Up at Night
Do your homework so you understand not only the job or promotion for which you are applying, but also the job of the senior executive above it. Do you know to whom this person reports, and what the top issues are for your boss's boss?
Tip: Make that knowledge part of your interview conversation. Show an interest not only in the specifics of the job, but in the product and markets for that company. Ask broad questions: "What do you think the potential growth in the Indian market is?"
Look for Answers
Senior managers are looking for candidates who are creative thinkers focused on finding solutions. It is less important that you show you know the details of the problems the organization faces than that you're able to demonstrate readiness to look for options and find solutions.
Tip: Think about problems in the past you've identified and managed to solve. Show readiness to tackle the tough issues.
Show Some Guts
Chances are whoever you're interviewing with got where he is by showing some moxie, and you should too. Top people need and want folks around them who are not afraid to speak up and will confidently assert their ideas. It is the only way to be part of the process.
Tip: Be ready with an example of a time when you weren't afraid to go out on a limb and your actions helped bring about real change.
Show Your Softer Side, Too
Yes, you should speak up and assert your ideas. But there will be times when the folks at the top will want-- will even need -- for you to go along once a decision has been made, even if you don't agree with it.
Tip: Think about past experiences you can discuss to demonstrate you're comfortable with the challenges of a dynamic environment.
Listen
Just as you want to make it plain in an interview that you are not too timid to speak up, you want to make it clear you are not over-confident or intent on dominating the process. Demonstrate you are able to listen without being too eager to cut off dialog.
Tip: Ask questions that reflect the concerns of the questioner in a constructive way. For instance, if you are asked what you would do in a certain situation, resist the temptation to answer before you've asked some questions of your own.
Keep It Positive
If there's one thing senior managers have a universal distaste for, it's whining. Remember, every hiring manager wants to hire a team player who will bring positive energy and real initiative to the job. Be ready with examples of positive suggestions about problems or issues that you took initiative on in order to demonstrate your people skills.
Tip: Steer clear of any criticism of prior managers, even if invited to offer it.
Aileen Pincus, BusinessWeek.com, Yahoo! HotJobs
When you are looking to make the Big Leap -- the one that puts you closer to the power centers of a business or organization -- the interview process will likely be different from what you've experienced before. The more senior the person or people you're interviewing with, the more definite their ideas are likely to be about what they're looking for. They know that their own continued success depends on hiring the best people.
So how do you prove your readiness for the big leagues? By thinking like a big-league player. This interview will be different from others, but it will be your best chance to impress the decisionmakers, so there are some key points you want to be certain you get across. Here are tips to help you succeed:
Show You Get the "Big Picture"
Any number of interview candidates may possess specific subject-knowledge valuable to a business. But the candidate who goes beyond mere information and displays an ability to use it well is more likely to get the job. Senior executives and managers generally want people who pay attention to and understand the broader view.
Tip: Demonstrate you recognize patterns and understand their importance; that you know how to use and synthesize information.
Find Out What Keeps the Boss Up at Night
Do your homework so you understand not only the job or promotion for which you are applying, but also the job of the senior executive above it. Do you know to whom this person reports, and what the top issues are for your boss's boss?
Tip: Make that knowledge part of your interview conversation. Show an interest not only in the specifics of the job, but in the product and markets for that company. Ask broad questions: "What do you think the potential growth in the Indian market is?"
Look for Answers
Senior managers are looking for candidates who are creative thinkers focused on finding solutions. It is less important that you show you know the details of the problems the organization faces than that you're able to demonstrate readiness to look for options and find solutions.
Tip: Think about problems in the past you've identified and managed to solve. Show readiness to tackle the tough issues.
Show Some Guts
Chances are whoever you're interviewing with got where he is by showing some moxie, and you should too. Top people need and want folks around them who are not afraid to speak up and will confidently assert their ideas. It is the only way to be part of the process.
Tip: Be ready with an example of a time when you weren't afraid to go out on a limb and your actions helped bring about real change.
Show Your Softer Side, Too
Yes, you should speak up and assert your ideas. But there will be times when the folks at the top will want-- will even need -- for you to go along once a decision has been made, even if you don't agree with it.
Tip: Think about past experiences you can discuss to demonstrate you're comfortable with the challenges of a dynamic environment.
Listen
Just as you want to make it plain in an interview that you are not too timid to speak up, you want to make it clear you are not over-confident or intent on dominating the process. Demonstrate you are able to listen without being too eager to cut off dialog.
Tip: Ask questions that reflect the concerns of the questioner in a constructive way. For instance, if you are asked what you would do in a certain situation, resist the temptation to answer before you've asked some questions of your own.
Keep It Positive
If there's one thing senior managers have a universal distaste for, it's whining. Remember, every hiring manager wants to hire a team player who will bring positive energy and real initiative to the job. Be ready with examples of positive suggestions about problems or issues that you took initiative on in order to demonstrate your people skills.
Tip: Steer clear of any criticism of prior managers, even if invited to offer it.
Will Indiana be a 'game-change'"?
Will Indiana be a 'game-change'"?
By Jamie Coomarasamy
BBC News, Indiana
Campaigning in Indiana brings its complications - not least of which is keeping track of the time.
For historical reasons, the Hoosier State contains two time zones.
Parts of the north-west and south-west go by central - or "slow time", as the locals call it, while the rest of the state goes by eastern, or "fast time".
It was something that one of Hillary Clinton's secret service agents seemed unaware of, when we spoke outside one of her events in Indianapolis.
The candidate herself, however, was as focused and on-message as ever.
And the message she has been giving across Indiana has been an unashamedly populist one.
'Misguided strategy'
The New York senator has been laying out her plan to bring down gasoline prices; a mixture of new windfall taxes on big oil companies and no gas taxes - over summer, at least for consumers and business owners.
Barack Obama calls it a misguided, short-termist electoral strategy.
He has seized on the fact that the idea has the support of the Republican nominee, John McCain, and has labelled it a "Clinton-McCain plan".
So whose vision will convince the voters? And how important will a victory be in Indiana - a state which last held a significant primary 40 years ago?
Should Mr Obama win in Indiana... he will have stemmed the tide of recent defeats
The first is hard to judge.
Opinion polls place the two rivals neck-and-neck, but - as you travel around the state - you are repeatedly told how hard it is to give a single message to Indiana's voters or, indeed, to get a single message from them.
Not only are there two zones, but different regions of the state are influenced by the big cities in the neighbouring states.
Cincinnati, Ohio in the north east, Louisville, Kentucky in the south-west and in the north-west, Chicago, Illinois.
It is a Mid-Western mosaic.
Shock victory?
That Chicago link could help Barack Obama.
The Illinois senator's ties to the city may act as a counterweight to the advantage which Hillary Clinton might be expected to enjoy with the region's blue-collar workers, who are still smarting from the loss of more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the state since 2000.
They have been the kind of voter she has courted to great effect in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.
And the significance of Indiana?
Hillary Clinton has been speaking about next Tuesday's two primaries - Indiana and North Carolina - as "game changers" and, in a sense, they could be.
If she wins in Indiana and pulls off a shock victory in North Carolina, where she trails in most polls, the sheen will have been removed from the Obama campaign.
A double win would confirm that the Clinton victories in Pennsylvania and Ohio did indeed mark a change of momentum.
A double loss for Senator Obama, on the other hand, at the end of a period marked by the re-emergence of his controversial former pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright, would re-ignite the debate over his electability.
Should he win in Indiana, however, he will have stemmed the tide of those recent defeats.
His front runner status, which he has earned by winning more states, votes and delegates than his rival, would regain its legitimacy.
To see how far the game has really changed, though, you will have to look to the super-delegates - those party officials who can support whichever candidate they choose at the National Convention in August and whose votes are likely to decide the contest.
Hillary Clinton's only plausible path to victory, at this point, involves convincing them that she is the best-placed candidate to defeat John McCain in November.
If those super-delegates, yet to reveal their hand, desert either candidate in large numbers, the game will not just be changed.
It will be over.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7381471.stm
By Jamie Coomarasamy
BBC News, Indiana
Campaigning in Indiana brings its complications - not least of which is keeping track of the time.
For historical reasons, the Hoosier State contains two time zones.
Parts of the north-west and south-west go by central - or "slow time", as the locals call it, while the rest of the state goes by eastern, or "fast time".
It was something that one of Hillary Clinton's secret service agents seemed unaware of, when we spoke outside one of her events in Indianapolis.
The candidate herself, however, was as focused and on-message as ever.
And the message she has been giving across Indiana has been an unashamedly populist one.
'Misguided strategy'
The New York senator has been laying out her plan to bring down gasoline prices; a mixture of new windfall taxes on big oil companies and no gas taxes - over summer, at least for consumers and business owners.
Barack Obama calls it a misguided, short-termist electoral strategy.
He has seized on the fact that the idea has the support of the Republican nominee, John McCain, and has labelled it a "Clinton-McCain plan".
So whose vision will convince the voters? And how important will a victory be in Indiana - a state which last held a significant primary 40 years ago?
Should Mr Obama win in Indiana... he will have stemmed the tide of recent defeats
The first is hard to judge.
Opinion polls place the two rivals neck-and-neck, but - as you travel around the state - you are repeatedly told how hard it is to give a single message to Indiana's voters or, indeed, to get a single message from them.
Not only are there two zones, but different regions of the state are influenced by the big cities in the neighbouring states.
Cincinnati, Ohio in the north east, Louisville, Kentucky in the south-west and in the north-west, Chicago, Illinois.
It is a Mid-Western mosaic.
Shock victory?
That Chicago link could help Barack Obama.
The Illinois senator's ties to the city may act as a counterweight to the advantage which Hillary Clinton might be expected to enjoy with the region's blue-collar workers, who are still smarting from the loss of more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the state since 2000.
They have been the kind of voter she has courted to great effect in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.
And the significance of Indiana?
Hillary Clinton has been speaking about next Tuesday's two primaries - Indiana and North Carolina - as "game changers" and, in a sense, they could be.
If she wins in Indiana and pulls off a shock victory in North Carolina, where she trails in most polls, the sheen will have been removed from the Obama campaign.
A double win would confirm that the Clinton victories in Pennsylvania and Ohio did indeed mark a change of momentum.
A double loss for Senator Obama, on the other hand, at the end of a period marked by the re-emergence of his controversial former pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright, would re-ignite the debate over his electability.
Should he win in Indiana, however, he will have stemmed the tide of those recent defeats.
His front runner status, which he has earned by winning more states, votes and delegates than his rival, would regain its legitimacy.
To see how far the game has really changed, though, you will have to look to the super-delegates - those party officials who can support whichever candidate they choose at the National Convention in August and whose votes are likely to decide the contest.
Hillary Clinton's only plausible path to victory, at this point, involves convincing them that she is the best-placed candidate to defeat John McCain in November.
If those super-delegates, yet to reveal their hand, desert either candidate in large numbers, the game will not just be changed.
It will be over.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7381471.stm
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