Marketing and the Presidential Campaign

For those following my musings, you'll know that I have a tendency to be acerbic--but I try to stay away from political opining--and leave that to Bill Maher and Rupert Murdoch's Bill OReilly--as I don't need to risk potential consulting clients to be offended by my personal political viewpoints.

With that said, the current Presidential campaign, and particularly Mike Huckabee's comments today suggesting that his God supercedes the US Constitution has ignited my need to opine.

Have we gone so far off the path of common reason that more than 100 responsible, educated people would even consider voting for someone that suggests that religous beliefs should supercede the US Constitution. When and if the US Govt gives me back the right to vote, the odds of my voting Republican are pretty close to zilch, but if I had to choose, Ron Paul would be my fav.
I chuckled when I saw Huckabee's "Christmas" ad--but today's salvo compelled me to reach for Alka-Seltzer.. Is this guy a total lunatic?

Sure--I'm an east coast, quasi liberal. Harry Truman was my Dad's favorite President. But I can be a switch hitter--as I truly believe that party affiliation is less important than the personal perspectives of the top gun with his finger on the button.

I will always believe that Jack Kennedy was an inspiration for his and generations yet to come, that Ronald Reagan was a lousy screen actor, but smart enough to surround himself with very smart people; that Gerald Ford might have tripped on stairs--but he was a true American hero--that Jimmy Carter was the second worst President of the last 30 years--George W winning the trophy for that title--and that Obama should have changed his name if he wanted to be a serious consideration.

My fav would be Mike Bloomberg (notwithstanding his being a meglomaniac of sorts)--but alas, this country isn't ready to elect a Jewish person to the highest office--and its becoming ever more doubtful that we're mature enough to elect a woman or a person of color.

Lesson to be learned--any worthwhile contender for the highest political office necessarily needs to be politically astute--and his/her "message" will have to be re-engineered/tweaked to appeal to the targeted audience. The risk in overtweaking--or posturing a message that is so obviously designed to 'sell' one particular audience, and then changing it the next day to appeal to another audience is one that few people can afford to take. And right now, none of the candidates have demonstrated the ability to manage that kind of risk. There's a guy named Putin looking for a job--his posture is more appealing than Huckabee's. Mike-time for you to bow out and leave it to Mitch and John to duke it out. Sorry Rudy-you were never a realistic choice, and I'm a New Yorker that lost 10 good friends in the WTC on 9-11.