Hollywood on the Potomac

Maybe President Barack Obama wasn’t following the news on election night. Perhaps the outcome — the triumph of a man dedicated to negating as much of Obama’s legacy as possible — left him too downhearted to absorb the message being sent. Like many elected figures, he’s had his troubles with the media; perhaps he simply turned off the TV once the Democrats’ defeat became evident, and paid no attention to the post-mortems.

In any case, the president appears to have been deaf to one of the signals so clearly sent by a very disgruntled U.S. electorate, 61 million of whom voted for a man who many acknowledged was unsuited for the job, but who represented as stark a break from the status quo as could be imagined. One of Donald Trump’s perceived attributes is that he isn’t Hollywood: he isn’t a glittery, glam, selfsatisfied liberal, preaching concern for the great unwashed while sipping Chardonnay at his personal vineyard or crossing the continent to attend the latest rally against carbon emissions. Richard Garwin and Rear Adm. Grace Hopper, “the first lady of software.” Then the interlude of relative anonymity was broken again by high-profile architect Frank Gehry — even though his planned memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower on the Washington Mall was panned by the former president’s family and denounced by columnist George F. Will as “a monstrosity” — and by Bill and Melinda Gates, who surely must be celebrated enough by now not to require yet another tribute.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the U.S.’s highest civilian honour, “presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavours.” Certainly all this year’s recipients fit easily enough within those criteria. But it also gives the distinct impression of a collection put together from a fan magazine found on a bedside table in the White House residence.

One reason Hillary Clinton is thought to have lost to such an unlikely rival was her inability to connect with ordinary Americans. She was great at raising money among the mansions of Long Island, where she hobnobbed with Paul McCartney, or rubbing shoulders with George and Amal Clooney at a $350,000-a-couple dinner in Beverly Hills. When her motorcade pulled up to the Clooney mansion, protesters showered it with dollar bills in a show of disgust.

There is little question that Hollywood and the Hamptons are hotbeds of Democratic support, but private yachts and weekend jaunts to Napa don’t resonate deeply with millions of Americans worried that they might not be able to make their next mortgage payment.

It is taken for granted that Obama will quickly earn a great deal of money when he leaves the White House; more, perhaps, than even the Clintons have made from the connections built up over their 25 years in Washington.

It may be a longer wait before a Democratic president is able to reside there again, unless the party and the “progressives” who support it get over their infatuation with the famous. On Nov. 4 Beyoncé and Jay Z hosted a rally for Clinton in Cleveland, while Katy Perry campaigned in Nevada and Miley Cyrus in Virginia.

Four days later Clinton lost to a narcissistic real estate tycoon. Maybe Obama was too busy adding Hollywood names to his medals’ list to get the message.