There ain't no party like a political party

Ever since Obama was first elected, I have felt the President is extremely well-intentioned but ill-advised, and needs to surround himself with better strategists and political advisors. He seems to lack advisors who would have guided him to do things more for public approval because, let's face it, it does matter what others think.

The executive office is much more than just one man - it "takes a village," one that's filled with specialists in every department, from Defense to defending against your critics.

The Democrats did an amazing job working hard to get Obama into office, but they began making terrible mistakes, like focusing first on healthcare, ahead of the economy. Both were high priorities, for sure, and Obama has done the seemingly impossible, completely reversed the economic free-fall we were in when he took office, making this what history will likely show is the most dramatic economic recovery ever. This in spite of the most antagonistic Congress in recent memory trying their darndest to undo everything he's done. So this administration can, and should, be credited with amazing results!

But, IMHO, there was no higher priority in 2008 than the dismal Depression, and his advisors should have insisted that Obama attack it the minute he got into office. By prioritizing healthcare first, it made him look cavalier about the U.S. economy-which he is not- but image is everything. Add to that the extreme complexity of the subject matter of healthcare, and that's a recipe for discontent, any way you slice it.

His image suffered, his popularity plummeted, and that's one recovery that has not been made.

So, what else has the Democratic National Committee managed to blunder? Well, how about preparing candidates for office...Have you seen those Hillary Clinton ads, "Ready for Hillary" - that is just about the worst presidential campaign slogan I have ever heard, I mean, a sixth grader could be more creative (no offense to sixth graders).

Yes, I can only imagine how much money was spent to come up with that little nugget of marketing genius. Not much, apparently. It's a slogan more suited to a middle school student council election.

I thought maybe those ads were a joke - a spoof- but sadly, the ads indeed were sponsored by the DNC. Worse yet, the photograph they chose to use of her from the tens of thousands of images they have at their disposal, shows her in this cheesy pose, pointing her finger and winking. Winking?! Really?

Sadly, Hillary Clinton may in fact be an outstanding candidate for president, but in America, it takes more than great potential to get elected and, with this team, she's got her work cut out for her.

Recently, Obama supporters were mailed and asked to Tweet the following:
"I'm getting President Obama's back -- will you join me?"
Not only is this grammatically painful, it doesn't provide a hash tag. A hash tag, people! It's Twitter. Welcome to Social Media 101, please take out your textbooks (and smash them against your head). Attention marketing team: #YoureFired.

Anyone who has any concept of social media understands how buzz is built. Hash tags expand your reach, the chance that your brand (including your personal brand) will be exposed to others. It's not rocket science. I may not be the greatest marketer who ever lived, but I kind of expect the folks handling the most important campaign in the civilized world to be.

Anyway, I digress...

Every now and then, I just need to vent about this. I like lots of things, but there are only a handful I can get passionate about. I get fired up about politics. I am thrilled to live in a country where you can have and express opinions freely.

Sometimes that backfires on us. There's freedom of expression, and then there's disrespect.

Where I come from, you show respect for your elders, your senior management, and pretty much everyone you come into contact with. You don't go around trash-talking people that have way more education, experience, and depth than you do. You don't smirk and roll your eyes during a State of the Union address, like our current (Republican) Speaker of the House did recently for the whole world to see.

I really like Barack Obama. I think the man is brilliant, trustworthy, and inspiring. Is he perfect? No. Are you? Okay then.

But in light of the old men he's followed during my generation- fun young upstarts like Johnson, Nixon, Reagan and Bush, he is lightyears ahead of most of his predecessors. He's the first US President who gets us, who actually seems to be one of us, and who will stand up for us, at his own peril.

While the Democrats have made their share of faux pas, Republicans have just been, well, faux...take, for example the fake ads they've created to try to lure Democratic voters. CNN reported that there are no less than 15 deceptive websites parading as Dems which are actually created by Republicans. Now, that's pretty crappy in my book.

When asked, a Republican leader replied they are "proud" of their faux web sites. I know that not all Republicans are that sketchy and sneaky (or, as they like to call it, "clever"), but I'd be pretty damn embarrassed and disgusted with the Democrats if they did that kind of thing. So I hope they are going to take the high road in all this.

The ridiculous partisanship and political infighting in the U.S. is at an all-time high - or low, depending how you look at it. We need to stop fighting with each other so we can take on the world. United we stand, divided we fall.

#America