The question many undecided voters ask is can Obama lead? They point to his time as community organiser and state legislator as not being ready for national office because the ultimate choice must run a multi-trillion dollar US economy in some trouble.
For 19-months Senator Obama has led a $500 million dollar business in 57-locations, convinced 2 million people raising millions of dollars $96 a time (average) on the Internet and mobilised thousands to take the message house to house and street to street in a way not seen in politics.
Business Week magazine gave high marks to Obama this week for his business savvy. He knows and is not afraid to surround himself with good people and as a good CEO he listens, asks good questions and then takes tough decisions.
He is also an innovator who has mastered all applications of new media. If you think the text VP announcement was a gimmick, look at the thousands of e-mail addresses and potential new fund-raisers it brought in.
Obama’s brought young people into this campaign, energised thousands who have never voted and see the excesses our generation have wrought. His base of support is broad and has kept special interest money at arm’s length. Howard Dean started it and Obama has learned and thus changed the face of politics.
When I wrote a recent article about the Bill Gates’ Foundation’s use of GSM technology to help pinpoint and find areas of greatest need to target spending, I found a page with an advert from the Obama campaign looking for a technical strategist in this area to help them put resources in the right places.
His first major executive decision, choosing his Vice Presidential running mate, was neither knee-jerk nor rushed. He has been widely complimented for putting party ahead of himself in the selection of Joe Biden. He now has someone who can tell his story and attack John McCain’s false claims. He was pragmatic, thoughtful, listened to input, asked good questions and maintained an almost zen-like demeanour in the face of relentless and withering Republican attacks.
John McCain has been in a Congress for 35 years and has sided with a President who has run up an enormous debt through mindless tax cuts and a war entered into under false pretences. Both drain money from key domestic projects. Too, his campaign was out of money before he secured the nomination and his field organisation is nowhere as formidable as Obama’s.
Hillary Clinton’s supporters are planning protests this week, yet fail to recognise that their “superior” candidate ran up a $20 million dollar personal debt to party consultants and special interests who tried to run a traditional campaign. They could not see the market shift and arrogantly thought the race would end on February 05 with them in firm control.
The business of campaigns is just that, a business. The US economy needs to be treated the same way.
