{"id":4918,"date":"2015-07-02T07:36:12","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T11:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4918"},"modified":"2015-07-02T07:37:46","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T11:37:46","slug":"yearning-for-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4918","title":{"rendered":"yearning for connection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1428865798880-73444f4cbefc\"<\/a>Consistent with my daily routine of scanning diverse news sources, yesterday I read an editorial in The Washington Post debating the possibility of VP Joe Biden running for President of the United States. Yes, I find it fascinating\u202614,000 people running for the Rep\u2019s\u2026 one waiting to be coronated by the Dem\u2019s\u2026 and neither scenario currently, totally appealing.<\/p>\n

But as the editorial weighed the prospects of a Biden candidacy, I stumbled upon this huge a-ha:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a lot of ways, Biden would be the true anti-Hillary. He is completely uninhibited, he is impossible to script \u2014 which makes him seem authentic \u2014 and he has a human appeal that everyone can relate to. Clinton, on the other hand, is running a surreal campaign that avoids crowds, media and spontaneity of any kind. She is protecting her lead in the most standard, unimaginative way possible. Compared with Clinton\u2019s robotic, stiff approach, could having a reputation for occasionally saying the wrong thing and hugging too much work to Biden\u2019s advantage in an era where voters want the real thing?<\/em><\/p>\n

The Democrats appear to be yearning for an emotional connection with their candidate, which could explain the flurry of excitement surrounding the Bernie Sanders campaign. Sen. Sanders seems to have an outsize appeal, which could be a product of how his outside-the-box approach contrasts with the stale Clinton march. But whatever Bernie can do, can\u2019t Biden do it better? Maybe Sanders\u2019s candidacy has exposed the opening that exists for Biden in the Democratic primary. Maybe this is Biden\u2019s moment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Friends, this post is not intended to address any aspect of partisan politics \u2014 nor to again aver the Intramuralist\u2019s stated desire for ideas fresher than those hailing from a Clinton or Bush. What fascinated me in the above editorial was this line:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Democrats appear to be yearning for an emotional connection<\/strong> with their candidate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s remove the partisan reference\u2026<\/p>\n

We<\/strong><\/em> want an emotional connection with our candidate.<\/p>\n

We<\/strong><\/em> want an emotional connection with our President.<\/p>\n

We<\/strong><\/em> want an emotional connection with our celebrities, sports figures, politicians, you-name-it.<\/p>\n

My sense is we crave connection.<\/em><\/p>\n

Years ago I remember laughing when ABC found unique success positioning their \u201cBachelor\/Bachelorette\u201d series as \u201creality TV\u201d [insert big grin here]. I laughed further still at the vocabulary they added to our colloquial conversation.\u2028\u2028..<\/p>\n