Ah, the photo-op.
An increasingly visual world has cemented it as a central pillar of political campaigns and entertainment culture (is there a difference?). But just as a perfectly choreographed photo-op can efficiently capture a desirable narrative (then-candidate Obama draining a triple to the delight of a gym-full of troops comes to mind), a botched photo-op can be disastrous.
For fans of Canadian politics, the iconic example is that of Conservative PM candidate Bob Stanfield dropping a football during a photo-op in Northern Ontario in the mid-70s. For the rest of that campaign the image (which the Globe ran on its front page) proved inescapable, and Stanfield was handily defeated.
This is definitely a photo-oops. Observers insist that the event, which was intended to respond to Stanfield’s perceived lack of vitality compared to his younger opponent Trudeau, had a serious impact on the dynamics of the race.
Sure, iconic photo-oops can occur for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it can simply be an inopportune blunder (in the above example, Stanfield was said to have successfully and naturally caught and thrown the football many times before fumbling). Others, an unexpected lack of skill (the otherwise athletic Obama survived a brutal, gutterball-laced showing in a photo-op at a bowling alley during his 2008 primary Campaign versus Hillary Clinton). Lapses can happen in controllable elements (Stephen Harper “on safari” in Mexico) or less controllable ones (protesters glittering Bachman and Gingrich).
In each case, however, campaigns must toe the line between providing a variety of narrative-driving images over the course of the campaign while minimizing the possibility of their candidate stumbling.
An photo-op at a local bar worked quite well for the late Jack Layton early in the 2011 campaign, for instance. Quickly, more trips were planned.
The same strategy might not be advised for Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, however, who was photographed providing a supporter with an underwhelmingly-poured beer over the weekend.
The image will have no impact on Grit fortunes in the upcoming election, but serves as a neat example of how much information can be extrapolated from even the most trivial, insignificant photo-oops. Who will drop the ball next?
