Politics

I would be remiss to create this journal with no mention of the current political primary that's being so valiantly fought out between the two remaining Democratic challengers, Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. Politics, though usually seen as something in the public realm, is truly the purest marketing business available, where "spin" is the name of the game, and understanding how your customers (voters) will perceive any action or word from the candidate. Thinking about this, I'm reminded of a wonderful (and hilarious) video where Jon Stewart talks about how this situation with politics - the spin, and the pundits, and the arguing - is hurting America. It was on the CNN show Crossfire during the 2004 Presidential campaign, and I will warn, it is quite long:



I've been watching very intently as the campaign has been progressing, because it has been very interesting to see the way perceptions shift after every primary. Indeed, in the beginning of the primary season, it was assumed that the Democratic primary would be more of a coronation for Hilary, rather than a voting process. As the clear front-runner from the beginning, it was assumed that everyone else was really just playing for second place. That all changed, however, with the Iowa Caucus, the first event of the primary season. Barack Obama pulled off the unlikely upset, with John Edwards in second and Hilary a distant third. All of a sudden, people began believing that maybe Hilary's win wasn't such a given, and a young senator from Illinois may have a fighting chance. Throughout the month of January and through Super Tuesday, perceptions kept shifting, all to now, when Obama has strung together a number of wins in a row. At this point, it now seems like Obama can't lose and Clinton can't win. I've noticed that, in debates, Obama seems to have claimed an impressive moral high ground over Clinton whenever she tries to play "political tricks" on him. This was particularly evident when Clinton attempted to accuse Obama of plagarism for using the words of a political friend. People saw right through this attempt by Clinton, and went so far as to boo her during a debate when she decided to bring this up. Never before have I seen a situation where one candidate truly holds such a strong high ground over another candidate, and this is truly something that is 100% related to how the candidates are perceived. This can also be seen in a debate before the Ohio/Texas primaries, when the audience boos Clinton after making mention of a supposed conspiracy against her:



At the current time, Obama is perceived as the candidate who is above the influence of politics. People see him as someone who yearns for change, and has the intelligence and skills to pull if off.
People see Clinton as part of the political machine, someone who uses buzzwords and political tricks to attempt to shift support from her enemies.

In order to win the campaign, Clinton will clearly have to begin to shift this perception and change the way that people view her.