Sarah Palin, ObamaBot, McCan't and that other guy

I'm not particularly political, but the Sarah Palin "event" got me thinking about how politics now faces the same challenge that today's brand managers know all to well — lack of control. From a brand management point of view, the race for me is now between Sarah Palin, ObamaBot, McCan't and that other guy.

In the days pre-web, all you had to do was repeat a particular message often and consistently and it would be considered fact. Today's brands are defined by consumer opinion, speculation and PR and marketing to a degree. Brands have to pass the, "sniff test" to be believable and "real."

Enter the current political race. The gloss job the media is doing for Obama is actually doing him a disservice at this point because he just doesn't feel, "real." What are this guy's problems? What challenges has overcome? What mistakes have he or his family made? Every forray into these areas quickly disappears from the face of the earth. To me he has become the "ObamaBot." Wind him up and he makes you feel good.

Same with McCan't. He can't speak publicly. He can't be better than Bush. He can't have an original thought. I'd blame the media, but he's sort of painted his brand into that corner. The only impression I have is the retread war hero story and the campaign speech screech.

So we are left with Sarah Palin, with all her weaknesses, family and faults as the only "real" brand/person that everyday people can actually believe didn't come from "political world." And every attempt to make her look worse, makes her more sympathetic.

Oh yeah, and that other guy Paul Politician... whatever he's about.

Clinton was real. Bush was real. Both maybe a little too real. But they got our votes.