Terrific GQ article on Lamont/Lieberman primary race

[femmedem]

Kenneth Cain’s GQ article on the Lamont/Lieberman primary race is going to surprise any readers who still think of Joe as principled.

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A small gaggle of cameramen wait in the shade. Kids in bright Lieberman T-shirts, some paid to be there, array themselves around the perimeter, at the unsubtle directions of Joe’s advance staff, and wait for the signal to simulate spontaneous enthusiasm. The bus arrives with police escort and disgorges a phalanx of press and staff. Joe’s driver, Joe Derosier, a man with big hands, belly, tattoos, and smile, steps off the bus and rubs his eyes. The cameramen come out into the light and get in the ready position, and then everyone waits for an uncomfortably long time in the sun until Joe finally bounds out of the bus, trying in vain to fake the look of recently arrived exuberance.

The first human within reach is Derosier. Joe grabs his hand and embraces him in a full-on man-clench for the cameras, as though Derosier were a faithful supporter who drove out to the mouth of the Norwalk River just because he’s eager to hear more about Joe’s support for bike trails. I turn to the young staffer next to me and say, “Wait, that’s his driver he just embraced!” She shrugs like, No shit, you idiot, that’s how this works. And she’s right. This event might as well be taking place on a soundstage. All that matters is that the manufactured support looks real on the evening news tonight and in the paper tomorrow.

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Lots more, including the importance of Waters, Jackson and Sharpton to Lamont’s win, at http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_5003