Facing a Selfie Election, Presidential Hopefuls Grin and Bear It
By JEREMY W. PETERS and ASHLEY PARKER

“Press that white button! This right here,” the former secretary of state instructed a technologically deficient fan in New Hampshire who was fumbling to work an iPhone camera. Her patience thinning, Hillary Rodham Clinton took matters into her own hands and jabbed the button herself. And with the sound of an electronic shutter snap, another selfie — the must-have political souvenir of 2016 — went up into the cloud for campaign posterity.

Who wants their babies kissed or their yard signs autographed anymore? This is the Selfie Election. And if you are running for president, you have no choice but to submit.

Candidates can now spend an hour — or sometimes two, as Senator Rand Paul did last month in New Hampshire — exhausting a line of eager selfie seekers. Others, like Senator Ted Cruz, have learned to add an extra 20 minutes at the beginning and end of events because so many people want pictures.

Jeb Bush has perfected a technique suited to his 6-foot-3 frame: For his shorter fans, he will take the picture with his own outstretched selfie stick of an arm. The sons of Gov. Scott Walker have watched their father take so many, they say he has significantly polished his shutterbug skills. Gov. Chris Christie’s staff says he has taken “too many to count.”

But as campaigns adjust to a new self-focused social media world, some are left wondering whether more meaningful voter-candidate interactions are suffering. When candidates oblige so many people, some requesting multiple takes to straighten that smile, square a double chin or get a pesky photo bomber out of the frame, are they losing the chance to clarify a policy position, listen to concerns or even just look a voter in the eye?

“It’s self-serving, and the candidate is kind of screwed,” said Craig Robinson, a former political director of the Iowa Republican Party.

“They just have to put up with it, because how do you decipher who is a fan and who wants to fill their profile with pictures of them with candidates?” said Mr. Robinson, now the editor of The Iowa Republican, a political publication.

Indeed, it is not always clear whether the people asking for photographs even like or plan to vote for the candidate they are posing with, or whether they just want a Facebook trophy to flaunt.

Not all candidates care to oblige.

“Please stop,” wrote Ben Carson, the retired pediatric neurosurgeon and Republican presidential hopeful, in a recent opinion piece for The Washington Post that raised a jarring if somewhat hyperbolic concern: Selfies kill.

“Beyond the obvious narcissism of endlessly photographing oneself and blasting it over social networks for others to admire, selfies are dangerous,” he went on, citing a few examples of how inattentive selfie snappers had met their demise. (Falling off a cliff in Portugal, for example.)

Former President Bill Clinton has complained that he is inundated with requests whenever he goes out in public. At an event last year with another former president, George W. Bush, Mr. Clinton observed that even eating out had become a challenge — to which Mr. Bush cracked, “At least they’re still asking.”

President Obama has had to draw the line before. “I want to warn in advance, I can’t do a selfie with everybody,” he told a crowd last month.

Few people embody the selfie craze like Maggie Fitzgerald, a lobbyist in Des Moines who has maneuvered her way into photos with politicians willing and unwilling. Her biggest gets: Donald J. Trump, Rick Perry and Gov. Bobby Jindal, whom she found eager and obliging, and Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Paul and Mr. Carson, who seemed much less enthusiastic.

“Sometimes they’ll ask me, ‘Don’t you want a normal picture?’ ” Ms. Fitzgerald said in an interview. “No, I just want a selfie.”

She is undecided in the race, but said she gained some insight into the candidates by their demeanor during selfies. “Most of them aren’t stiff about it,” Ms. Fitzgerald added. “Some of them might be. But they shouldn’t be president.”

Then there are those who see the selfie as just one more example of how people have become slaves to their devices at the expense of human interaction. Queen Elizabeth II has said she finds the trend disconcerting and indicated she misses eye contact with her subjects.

For security teams on the campaigns, all this close contact between candidates and strangers can be a challenge, but in some ways it is easier to monitor than a traditional rope line. That is because selfies keep people’s hands up where they can be seen.

Many campaigns say they are benefiting after posing for all those pictures. When shared on Facebook and Instagram, they can exponentially increase a candidate’s visibility, spreading an authentic memento that helps extend the chatter around a rally beyond those who attended.

“This is something that campaigns should embrace and be very happy with, because it’s just free advertising,” said Mr. Paul’s chief digital strategist, Vincent Harris.

The Paul campaign sees a branding opportunity. When people line up for photos, campaign aides often erect a backdrop with a “Rand” logo on it for people to pose in front of. These exercises have also resulted in a little horizon broadening for Mr. Paul, who picked up a new term on the trail: “Us-ie,” a selfie with multiple people.

The ubiquity of camera phones at campaign stops is forcing aides to become proficient in operating different brands. Rick Tyler, an aide to Mr. Cruz, said the staff member who usually traveled with the senator was now well versed in how to quickly snap pictures with a Samsung Galaxy versus an iPhone.

The demand for selfies has grown so much, he added, that even walking just a short distance from one event to another can be an ordeal.

“Our schedulers will say to me: ‘He’s just going 100 steps. Why would it take 20 minutes to get there?’ ” Mr. Tyler said. “Well, travel with us and you’ll see.”

Senator Lindsey Graham said he could probably benefit from losing 15 pounds to make his selfies a bit more flattering. But his attitude toward selfies is upbeat: Society, he said, is richer for the selfie.

“When we take selfies and chat, it’s the beauty of American democracy,” Mr. Graham said. “I don’t think Putin really does this,” he added, referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. “I don’t think he probably has to worry about selfies.”

Senator Marco Rubio will indulge people who want selfies. But he often travels with a professional photographer who takes photos of him with voters as an aide trails behind, handing out index cards listing a website where supporters can go to download their pictures.

The benefit? Not only does the photographer speed the process and produce higher-quality images, but voters are asked to provide personal information on Mr. Rubio’s website. Before they can view their photos, Rubio supporters have told the campaign their name, their home and email addresses, which issues matter most to them and if they are willing to volunteer.

Even voters who embrace the selfie culture can seem slightly conflicted. Just take Lincoln Boyd, 22, who sneaked up to the stage at a recent conservative gathering and captured a selfie with Mr. Rubio that quickly went viral.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Boyd said he would have preferred to “grill” Mr. Rubio, asking him, “Why weren’t you able to corral the Republicans to get behind immigration?” But, he added, “there’s a time and a place for that.”

And, Mr. Boyd explained, “we’re millennials, it’s the 21st century, and if I’m with the candidate and I can get a quick picture with him, I’m going to do that.”

自拍熱 攻陷美國選戰

紐約時報報導，這次的美國總統選戰可說是一場「自拍選戰」，有意問鼎總統大位的人，不論到哪裡出席活動，幾乎都會遇到大批民眾要求一起自拍，一些有志參選者雖不情願，但僵著笑容勉強配合，有的則善用機會自我宣傳，並探知選民的想法。

有意參選美國總統的人，通常得花上一個小時才能消化要求自拍的排隊人龍。聯邦參議員保羅上月在新罕布夏州花了兩小時。

參議員克魯茲則學會在活動開始和結束時，都挪出廿分鐘跟民眾自拍。

佛羅里達州前州長傑布．布希身高一百九十公分，他跟比較矮的民眾合影時，會用自己的自拍棒伸出一個手臂的長度拍照，讓畫面協調。

威斯康辛州州長沃克的兩個兒子說，老爸的自拍技巧突飛猛進。新澤西州州長克利斯蒂的幕僚說，他跟民眾自拍的次數「多到數不清」。

美國前國務卿希拉蕊．柯林頓有一次在新罕布夏州與粉絲自拍，因為粉絲不熟悉自拍技巧，她不耐之下，自己伸手去按手機拍照鍵。

曾擔任共和黨愛阿華州競選總幹事的羅賓森說：「有志參選的人必須遷就這股自拍風潮，因為你分不清楚誰會投給你，誰只想把跟參選人的合照放上網炫耀。」

保羅陣營把自拍當成宣傳的絕佳機會。當民眾與保羅自拍時，幕僚常豎起標著「蘭德」（保羅的名字）的板子當作背景。保羅陣營數位策略長哈里斯說：「打選戰的人應該歡喜迎接自拍風潮，因為這等於免費打廣告。」

參議員魯比歐更進一步，常帶著一名專業攝影師出席活動，攝影師跟在他身旁，幫他跟民眾拍照並發送卡片，讓民眾根據卡片上的網址下載照片。

攝影師不僅讓合照的過程加快，還能拍出高品質相片。另一方面，民眾如果想要瀏覽自己的照片，必須先在網上填寫姓名、住家與電郵地址、最關心的議題和是否願意當選戰志工。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/05/us/politics/facing-a-selfie-election-presidential-hopefuls-grin-and-bear-it.html

2015-07-06．聯合報．A13．國際．編譯李京倫