TEXT ON SCREEN: IT’S EVERY POLITICIAN’S WORST NIGHTMARE…

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS COMMENTATOR: The majority of politicians out there, they live in a bubble.

TEXT ON SCREEN: BEING ‘IN THE BUBBLE’

ADAM NAGOURNEY (THE NEW YORK TIMES): There’s all these examples over the years of politicians getting involved in situations that supposedly show how they’re in the bubble and how they’re cut off.

ARCHIVAL:
REPORTER (SPEAKING TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH): This says you’re in a bubble.

ADAM NAGOURNEY: You will often see candidates being asked, “What’s the cost of a quart of milk?” ‘cause somebody living in a bubble probably doesn’t have to go out and buy milk because someone’s doing it for him.

TEXT ON SCREEN: THE ANALOGY WAS FIRST USED IN A REAGAN SPEECHWRITER’S MEMOIR…

SHE PICKED IT UP FROM A SURPRISING PLACE

ARCHIVAL (MOVIE TRAILER FOR “THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE”):
ANNOUNCER: Isolated at birth.
DOCTOR: Until he develops an immune system of his own, he’ll have to remain in his protected environment.
ANNOUNCER: John Travolta is the boy in the plastic bubble.

TEXT ON SCREEN: IT WAS SOON POPULARIZED AS A METAPHOR FOR LIFE IN POLITICS

ADAM NAGOURNEY: I think it just appealed to a lot of people. You know, a bubble is sort of transparent, so everyone can see you, and you can see everyone, but you’re still really cut off by what’s going on around you.

ARCHIVAL:
PRESIDENT BARRACK OBAMA: The biggest problem for me is being in the bubble. It’s very hard to escape…

TEXT ON SCREEN: BUT POLITICIANS TRY THEIR BEST…

ADAM NAGOURNEY: When Bill Clinton went to McDonald’s a few blocks away from the White House, I think that was an attempt to show that he was still in touch. The problem is that if it looks too, you know, orchestrated, contrived, people make fun of it.

ARCHIVAL (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, 1992):
PHIL HARTMAN (PLAYING PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON): You’ve got a real American family place here. . .  Is it too late for an Egg McMuffin?

ADAM NAGOURNEY: I think being in the bubble is really one of the big challenges that you have as a candidate.

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS ANCHOR: They’re gonna try to tell you she went to Chipotle for lunch. I guarantee you she ordered a ‘BUR-rito.’ She said, “I’d like one of those BUR-ritos.” They said, “it’s a bur-REE-to.” She’s not a normal person.

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS ANCHOR: Millionaire Mitt Romney, perhaps understandably, is having a bit of a problem persuading us that he understands the plight of the common working man.
MITT ROMNEY: I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.

ADAM NAGOURNEY: If you want to represent and understand regular people it’s hard to do that when you’re living in this sort of rarified atmosphere.

ARCHIVAL:
NEWS ANCHOR: They all talk about “the bubble.” That you get inside “the bubble,” you know you’re in “the bubble.” There’s nothing you can do, though. You’re in “the bubble.”

(END)