Communication Tip: Communication is Only Truly Effective if Both the Speaker & the Listener Apply Common Sense & Think Clearly

12Sep08

In my previous post, I praised the strategy employed by John McCain by choosing Sarah Palin for a running mate. Little did I know at the time how scary things would become. His strategy worked so well that America now has a new “celebrity” (to use McCain’s own words) in this campaign. And this “celebrities” draw seems to have clouded many Americans sense of political judgment with the thrill of possibilities.
Time and again, over the course of the last week, I have heard, read or been told that someone (most often a woman) was considering voting for McCain now simply because of the fact that Sarah Palin (a woman) was now on the ticket. “How exciting it would be to see a woman in the White House!” and “It is a good possibility that McCain might die while in office and we would finally have a woman president!” are some of the more popular comments that follow their announcement. And it is here, that I must take a moment to interject a couple of quick comments. First of all, how morbid are we becoming that we would elect a president on the basis that we hope he will die quickly in order to make room for his running mate to take office? Second, personally I think that it would be more exciting and an even greater victory for women, if the first woman president was someone that America had elected as president, not just someone who got there by default. The only reason that I have not really heard from those who are now thinking to vote for McCain/Palin is because of how qualified Palin is to lead the greatest country in the world over the course of the next four years. And that leads me to wonder (and to fear) if many of us are really thinking clearly. Would we really elect a president because of the sensationalism of it rather than their political merits?
Take a moment and think about things. Remove gender and race from the political equation for a moment (or if it makes it easier for you, imagine all the candidates as white males). After doing this, review what you know about them, their history, their beliefs, their policies, and their visions fot the future of this country. Be truthful – are you still leaning the same way? Perhaps you are, perhaps you aren’t but at least now you know whether or not you have fallen prey to the hype or if you are voting on the facts.

Filed under: Tips and Advice   |  2 Comments
Tags: common sense, communication, election, listen, mccain, palin, sensationalism, voting