This posting was a reaction to Missteps in a Campaign August 24, 2008To My Fellow American Colleagues,
We were on the silly side of petty in responding to McCain's real estate woes. These arguments come across as so petty on the 20th round of punditry! Showing McCain is out of touch is a no brainer. The mistake in the arguments is punishing people for being wealthy or marrying "well." That's hypocritical. George Stephanopolis kept pounding on this issue until it sounded ridiculous. The continuous pounding by talking heads actually does more to derail messages that are perceived to be corrected. It confuses the issues.The Roosevelt’s and Kennedy's did so well with their message of public service. Everyone knew they were wealthy, not to mention the bootlegging legacy from which it came. They delivered for the public. Their actions spoke louder than words.How many houses McCain owns is a non-issue. A bigger issue is how people read Barack's response to Rick Warren's question on when life begins. Unfortunately, the populace isn't good at nuance so the "above my pay grade" comment went over their heads. That's why Republicans position Barack as elitist; he has a vocabulary and speaks in complex sentences. During the Rick Warren program when you compare McCain's clipped answers to Obama's thoughtful musings you see what I mean.
The American public has a short attention span. (Think 30 frames per second. And, you can thank Sesame Street for that.) Plus, the media has created sound bites and combined the online style of reporting and blogs can be dangerous. We all need to wake up and view the landscape for what it is. This is not about punishing wealthy people. When statements about "re-distribution of wealth" rears its head, it can be miscontrued as socialistic or communistic.Real change requires courage to take a stand for a vision. A vision, by its nature, is ephemeral. The challenge is moving the vision to manifest and ask the questionable questions and say the unspeakable things. Let's shift gears NOW! It's getting late. If you have doubts, ask yourself why this race is so close if the Bush years are so disgusting. Rather than focus on "gotcha's" and who was right, let's structure a path people can follow. Obama is sometimes too vague for the average bear. He must use more concrete language to create a mental image for a steel worker or stay-at-home mom. For example, driving the Ivy-League credentials is an example. Mainstream Americans are lucky to go to community college let alone Harvard. Biden is capable of this language. From my coach training, I would like to offer a tip: Clients often talk about a topic, not the emotions or depth of the feeling beneath the topic. That's what I see us doing. Get to the heart of it, relate emotionally, not intellectually. It's more about how people feel about themselves when they can't feed their families, not that they can't feed their families.
We would do well to adopt Thom Hartmann's philosophy about framing the argument. I'm a staunch Democrat and believe Thom Hartmann, http://www.thomhartmann.com/, when it comes to framing the conversation. His book, Cracking the Code, could be our handbook. It's brilliant.Please let me know how I may serve. Our future is at stake.Best regards,Michelle Cubas, Enterprise Business Coach
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