Playgrounds and Politics

I have always enjoyed watching American politics – it’s so, um – political! The spins, the back tracks, the bold-faced lies, the shimmy shimmy – it is like a ballet. Trillions of dollars hang in the balance as everyone in the room makes it someone else’s fault. Sub-committees full of butt covering get nowhere special interest group glad handing – it’s brilliant and hilarious.

But Barrack Obama has changed my view - and I live in Canada!

Yesterday, Senator John McCain held a conference call about Barrack’s popularity. He called Obama the “world’s biggest celebrity” and has a new television campaign to prove it. Let’s dumb it down to the school yard. Harold is upset that Mikey is getting all the girls. Mikey is blonde, blue-eyed, and smart. Harold is a dweeb.

Obama is too popular? It’s an election!

There was a movie entitled The Pirates of Silicon Valley released in 1999 staring Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs and Anthony Michael Hall as Bill Gates.

At one point during the film, the Jobs’ character is upset because the Gates’ character stole his ideas. Here’s a passage;

Steve Jobs: What is this? This is like doing business with a praying mantis. You get seduced, and then eaten alive?

Bill Gates: Get real, would ya? You and I are both guys who had this rich neighbor – Xerox – who left the door open all the time. And you go sneaking in to steal the TV set. Only when you get there, you realize I got there first. I got the loot, Steve! And you’re yelling “it’s not fair, I wanted to steal it first!?”

Steve Jobs: We’re better than you are! We have better stuff.

Bill Gates: You don’t get it, Steve. It doesn’t matter.

Where Jobs’ real-life brilliance shone was when he premiered the movie at the 1999 Macworld summit and had Noah Wyle as a guest speaker. Bravo!

He has also taken Apple to heights never seen before, since his return to the company he built. And let me check the Vista helpline again ;-)

Obama is popular – there is no denying that. It does not mean he will make a fine President – but I like his chances. I'm Canadian, but I will go on record to say that he is by far the clear choice. Perhaps my biggest understatement.

Mr. McCain may want to have a look back at his decades of public service and remember, in the fight for the White House – it doesn’t matter. Right or wrong, the guy who is most popular gets more girls.

km