Citizen Strategist

Looks Like Joe Biden Has Been Reading Citizen Strategist

I wrote this back on August 9, 2008:

If the democrats win in 2008 - America loses. Period. At no time in history has one party been more unqualified to lead this country than the democrats in 2008. Both Russia and China have deep benches of operatives, warriors, planners and managers who understand explicitly how to unravel the US under a Barack Obama led America.

This is what Joe Biden said a few days ago:

"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

Why Barack Obama's Friend William "Bill" Ayers Matters

This William Ayers photo taken from the No Regrets - Chicago Magazine interview is a perfect example of message authenticity. The photo, the man and the back story are all perfectly aligned in communicating the essence of contemporary liberal Democrats.

WHY BILL AYERS MATTERS...

Do I think Barack Obama's association with Ayers makes him a terrorist? No. I don't. So why does Ayers matter? The reason Ayers matters is because he is the essence of contemporary liberal democrats. If you elect Barack you elect Bill Ayers. You also elect George Soros, Arianna Huffington, Markos Moulitsas, Keith Olberman, Andrew Sullivan and a gaggle of special interest groups like ACORN, Moveon.org, GLAAD, etc., none of whom have demonstrated an ability to work together in order to defend this country, run a business or raise a family.

So if elected, Barack will first have to fight a losing war within his own party - a party by its own admission who never stops fighting amongst themselves long enough to get something done. Things are bad. Both republicans and democrats have created the problems. The bottom line is that at no point in time has one party been more unqualified to lead this country in time of crisis than Obama's democratic party.

John McCain is one of the few politicians left who has the experience and DNA necessary to lead Americans out of this crisis. And unlike their democratic counterparts - republicans do know how to get in line and get sh$t done. That's why Bill Ayers matters. And thats why this photo is so iconic - it represents where liberal democrats will "lead" the United States of America.

"Diddy" Demonstrates Two Americas...

The video below is Diddy's take on Sarah Palin. Watch it. Watch all of it. It demonstrates in no certain terms the existence of two America's.

At No Point In Time In American History Has One Party Been More Unqualified To Lead This Country...

I really like Sarah Palin. She's my kind of American. Sarah Palin is authentic. She understands instinctively what it means to be a real American - not a hyphenated American, not a partisan American - not an American with issues, but a real American, with traditional American values.

A core American value is the instinct to balance rugged individualism with collective action. This instinct allows us to play on teams, serve in the military, work 9 to 5 and to sacrifice individual glory for the greater good. Joe Paterno, the long time coach of the Penn State football team never allowed the name of his players to be put on the back of their uniforms. Paterno's teams wore plain white unadorned uniforms.  Paterno instinctively understood - as did his players, that it is not about you, but about the team.

The ability to play on a team - to pull together and fight for a common cause is the defining difference between contemporary republicans and democrats. Bill Clinton once said "Democrats fall in love, republicans fall in line". If something happens to John McCain early in his presidency that would require Sarah Palin to assume the presidency - then Sarah understands, as will most of the republicans in the McCain/Palin administration what they need to do, what positions need to be played, who needs to be benched, who needs to be calling the plays.

At no point in time in American history has one party been so unqualified to run this country as the democratic party. And at no point in time has there been a ticket better qualified to run this country, based upon the issues and challanges we currently face, than the  McCain/Palin ticket.

If Democrats Win 2008 - Then is America Lost?

Fundamentally Americans are good at two activities - fighting wars and running businesses. The reason America is the last standing  superpower is because of our ability to fight and compete. Any attempt to weaken our military strength or enterprise competitiveness creates vulnerabilities that invite challengers to our status as superpower - challengers like Russia and China who do not play by the same rules we do.

Liberal democrats have spent the last 30 years diminishing our ability to fight and compete - and the day of reckoning is quickly approaching. Both China and Russia now possess the economic power and military sophistication necessary to credibly challenge America. A challenge we cannot lose - because if we do America will cease to exist.

If the democrats win in 2008 - America loses. Period. At no time in history has one party been more unqualified to lead this country than the democrats in 2008. Both Russia and China have deep benches of operatives, warriors, planners and managers who understand explicitly how to unravel the US under a Barack Obama led America.

One of my favorite miliatry bloggers - Blackfive ran a post today that graphically demonstrates the reality of turning the keys over to the democrats.

The thought of Barack Obama, Susan Rice and Anna Burger going up against a Putin-fueled Russia makes my blood run cold. How about you?

McCain's Latest TV Spot - Perfect Positioning

John McCain's latest TV spot is a good example of brand authenticity. Every point covered in this commercial is backed up by McCain's experience and track record. He has also drawn a very stark line in the sand between his campaign and Obama's. This is the spot:

At the other end of the spectrum is the Obama campaign who are compensating for Barack's lack of authenticity by staging a stadium acceptance speech extravaganza during the upcoming democratic convention that will likely make Joseph Goebbels proud.

Keep McCain REAL! Yes that means yellow teeth, stilted speeches, etc. etc. Most Americans continue to know the difference between words and actions.

The Three Move Set And Caroline Kennedy

Any good competitor is thinking three moves ahead - the move he makes, the move his opposition makes, then his counter move. Barack Obama announced today that Caroline Kennedy will be one of three "distinguished" Americans to select his VP running mate. In that Democrats have long assailed Dick Cheney for being corrupt it seems that Caroline Kennedy, scion to one of the most corrupt political families in the world, will now be in a position to select Dick Cheney's replacement. What exactly does Barack think will be the Republican response to this? As I said in an earlier posting on Barack - judge him on how he intends to meet his campaign commitments and who he will select to implement his plans. Caroline Kennedy is not a good start and further evidence of his lack of judgment.

More political marketing here.

Keep The PR Tarts Away From John McCain - He Is What He Is - And Thats a Good Thing...

As a bookend to Barack Obama's soaring oratory at his acceptance speech, you had John McCain's speech which by all accounts was not quite as soaring. As a marketing professional I say to McCain and his team - keep it that way. Keep McCain authentic. His authenticity is what propels the McCain brand. What ever you do - do not bring in the PR tarts to try and turn McCain into something he isn't. Most Americans get this instinctively - our measure of men are actions not words.

More on political marketing here.

Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech And Nike Running Shoes

I watched Barack Obama's speech last night. I was impressed by his oratorical skills. The same way I'm impressed by Wieden + Kennedy's creative skill in selling billions of dollars of Nike athletic shoes. Same emotional content. Same slick packaging. Same empty promises. Buy my shoes and win the Olympic marathon - buy my candidacy and I will create global peace, heal the sick and lower the oceans. I continue to believe that Barack Obama's campaign is one of the most cynical branding (propaganda) efforts - ever.

More on political marketing here.

BearingPoint's Paul Dunay Announces The End Of Command And Control Branding

I disagree with Paul's post. Circa 2008, marketers need more command and more control of their brands - not less. Web 2.0 technologies and social media strategies and tactics have enabled an entirely new set of threats and opportunities for contemporary marketers. And by most indications the threats outnumber the opportunities.

Marketers need a very disciplined command and control infrastructure in order to take advantage of the opportunities and guard against the threats. The words command and control are emotionally charged for some marketers. Especially those struggling with the necessities of business - like accountability and effectiveness. I've noticed recently a slew of marketers attaching a pejorative meaning to the concept of command and control as they try and defend many of their "new" marketing concepts. I have commented in the past about Seth Godin and Steve Rubel's misunderstanding of command and control:

This from Seth: "Blogging doesn't seem to fit into the command and control mindset of media companies".

This from Steve: "The enterprise is afraid of letting go of the command and control structure."

There are different expressions of command and control. Command and control can be top down, centralized and autocratic, and, it can be bottom up, decentralized and democratic. There are degrees and flavors of command and control that are determined by the operating environment, type of activity and objective of the enterprise. By nature and definition command and control is not "oppressive", "autocratic", "top down" or "centralized". It's what you make it.

Barack Obama is finding out he needs more command and control of his brand - otherwise Michelle Obama, Jeremiah Wright and Susan Rice will end up defining it for him.