Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Obama’s Inauguration: A New Brand

After watching Obama’s Inauguration on television yesterday, it is back to “chopping wood and carrying water” for me today. As an intense introvert, I confess that I couldn't always relate to all the hoopla yesterday. I do know that I like how Obama thinks. I like how he solicits information from multiple sources and synthesizes it. I like how he defines his goals. Of all the candidates who ran for president, I think he is the best one to lead the United States at this point in time.

This morning as I was waking up, I was thinking about the strong power of symbolism. Older white males have come to symbolize so much of what is wrong with the United States right now: corporate greed, untouchable arrogance. They have almost become as much of a brand as Campbell’s soup or Pepsi Cola. (I am in no way saying that I agree with the stereotype.) When people looked at President Obama yesterday, they saw something different. Part of people’s hope yesterday was related to seeing a different brand of elected official.

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