LEADERSHIP CULTIVATION

Republicans Reject Change as They Begin 2012 Campaign

Barack Obama won the U.S. Presidency in 2008 because he was a cheerleader for what Americans have wanted for a very long time, an end to political gridlock.  We embraced this young visionary leader who wanted to put an end to governance according to the counter-productive strategy of red and blue states competition. With this lame philosophy of red and blue states, absolutely nothing ever gets accomplished.  Well, nothing positive gets accomplished, but the divisiveness of red and blue states competition has become a profitable product line.

For some, an end to 51 to 49 percent politics just might not be good for business.  People like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity will find it more difficult to meet their projected profit margins since more people will choose to turn them off. Why do you think Rush is so upset these days?  People working together upsets the apple cart. But worrying about Limbaugh and Hannity pales in comparison to the havoc that will be perpetrated by the party out of power, the GOP.  They will use whatever gimmickry they deem necessary in their effort to return to power.

Almost to the point of arrogance, Republicans have not been shy about their desire for President Obama to fail.  Even though the country is burned out on long campaigns, and even though President Obama has been in office less than a month, the GOP 2012 quest for the presidency is in full gear.  Their desire to win in 2012, trumps the economy being in the tank, high unemployment, the War in Iraq, a chicken in every pot, it trumps everything. Is it for the good of the country, as in country first? What do you think? 

So President Obama shouldn't be terribly surprised when he cannot muster significant Republican support for legislation that might reverse the downward spiral the country is experiencing right now.  Nevertheless, it still boggles my mind to think that we have politicians like Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky fighting to keep the status quo and the misery manufactured by the party in power the prior eight years.  Well, Mr. McConnell, the majority of the United States including your neighboring state of North Carolina, voted for change even if most in your home state did not.  We also voted for President Obama to spearhead that change.  We did not vote for more of the same. 

President Obama deserves credit for trying to build bipartisan support.  It's a great commonsense approach and it would yield widespread benefits. However, often when major change occurs, dinosaurs tend to insist that it is just a fad and stubbornly try to stand in the way of progress.  They simply cannot or refuse to adjust to reality and a sizable percent of them, simply get left behind. I imagine that is what will happen to a lot of Republicans when they run for re-election in the mid-term.  They will simply get left behind, because the rest of us are moving on.

Unprepared McCain Ducks and Runs From Competition

We have heard all too often that John McCain is a great war hero. Granted. But when our war hero was presented with his latest opportunity to show his bravery, he ducked and ran from of all things a debate against Barack Obama that may require him to answer some tough questions about the economy. When America badly wants to hear from McCain and Obama, one of whom will be the next President, to say that McCain is running scare would be an understatement.

Maybe someone will tell McCain that it's hard to lead from the rear.  The debate is tomorrow night and the State of Mississippi has invested a lot of time and money in the preparation of the debate site.  Obama to his credit, recognizes that the President must multi-task even when the going gets tough and still plans to show up for the debate with or without McCain.  Someone should tell McCain that if he fails to reverse his dumb political stunt and is M.I.A. for the debate, the beating that he is receiving now in the polls will be child's play compared to the whipping he will endure after tomorrow night.

At no time in recent history has America needed leadership as much as it needs it right now with the country being threatened with a financial collapse and with war still raging in Iraq.  McCain had a golden opportunity to show Americans that he was ready to lead, but instead disengaged from a hotly contested presidential race against Obama who he obviously feels unprepared to debate.  Most Americans are left scratching their heads like they were when McCain showed another lapse in judgment by his selection of a dangerously unprepared Sarah Palin as his running mate.  Presidential decision making capacity?  Debatable.