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Hope Takes The Lead

October 29, 2008 By Graham English

Obama HopeThese are defining moments for America. We hardly seem very United these days. What’s been interesting for me is to see how these two very different campaigns choose to deliver their messages in the closing hours.

Marketers know that emotions make the sale. Good copywriters carefully choose a core buying emotion to pull at the prospect’s strings.

For McCain, that core emotion has been greed. McCain promises you will “keep what’s yours” and warns you of an impending socialist agenda. Greed and fear.

Obama, on the other hand, has continued to use the core emotion that put him in the world spotlight, hope.

I know I’m being marketed to. And I have no illusions that Obama will be our faultless savior. Well, maybe I have some illusion he will be.

But I do admire someone who takes the risky approach of appealing to higher ideals of hope, altruism, and thoughtfulness. I can get behind that marketing campaign wholeheartedly. And Obama is the only candidate who has a clearly articulated Plan for the Arts and Culture.

In Boulder, I used to the ride the bus to my job every morning with an older gentlemen named Charles. I would sit across from him at the front of the bus and he would tell captivating stories about the things he’d seen in the past. He was always upbeat and set the tone for my day.

I tell you this because I was happy to see his story go viral in a video yesterday. It turns out that he won a raffle to meet Barack Obama at a rally in Denver. It really couldn’t have happened to a better man.

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Filed Under: Opinion, Prose Tagged With: America, Arts, Barack Obama, Boulder, Copywriting, culture, emotions, hope, John McCain, Language, marketing, USA, videos, YouTube

About Graham English

Graham English is a musician, author, and entrepreneur.

Comments

  1. James Todd says

    November 1, 2008 at 1:36 AM

    [IN REFERENCE TO “Hope Takes the Lead”]

    Hello

    When I signed up for your Absolute Pitch Power program, I was under the impression that it involved music and not politics. But since you brought it up, I’ll just add my 2 cents worth.

    Well according to the constitution, you do have a right to your own opinion (free speech), at least now under our current democratic system, later, maybe not under whatever (socialist or otherwise) system Barack Obama will place us. In addition to this, he will systematically begin to strip us of our other guaranteed rights too, such as the 2nd Amendment (The Right To Keep And Bear Arms).

    To put it bluntly, to elect Barack Obama would be a complete Obamanation (sorry about the misspelling, I meant abomination) for far too many reasons to list here. Please wake up before it is too late!

    Barack Obama reminds me of an old saying, “If you can’t baffle them with brilliance, bury them in bull####”.

    Sincerely,

    James Todd

  2. Graham English says

    November 1, 2008 at 11:39 AM

    Maybe you’re new here. Because this site is obviously about a lot more than APP. If you want a different feed, check my individual RSS feeds or email options.

    The idea that Obama is a socialist is pure propaganda. True Socialists say Obama is no socialist and even McCain concedes Obama is no Socialist. Which pretty much leaves the rest of your argument empty of substance.

    And it still doesn’t take away from my argument that of the two campaigns, the one focusing on messages of hope is winning.

  3. Susan4848 says

    November 8, 2008 at 2:59 PM

    I am writing after the election and am still in the glow of new possibilities. I could go on and on, but….

    I think James’ comment highlights the fear factor. I am trusting that President Obama’s leadership (and actions) will help us all get past that – and that each of us will find the generosity and integrity to contribute our own unique resources at this powerful time.

    Susan

  4. Graham English says

    November 8, 2008 at 4:17 PM

    Beautiful comment. After this election, we definitely need some healing.

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