Why Politicians Make Good Marketers (and Vice Versa)

So, I happened to catch a news broadcast this morning (I think it was on Good Morning America). The show featured an interview with a politician whom, apparently, was in a bit of a pickle last year. In October, he was "going through some things," and it resulted in nearly a quarter of his staff resigning.

So, he went on GMA this morning to set the record straight. What we learned was the following:

1. He's in a good place now.
2. He's taking care of his two kids.
3. He's taking care of his 88-year-old mother.
4. He got help.
5. He's in a good place now.

That's it -- over and over, regardless of the questions asked of him, his answers were the same: some variation of those answers.

And I got to thinking, most politicians are just good speakers (and some aren't even that!). Most don't actually write their own material -- they have speechwriters to do that for them. The only thing they're asked to do is speak effectively (and in the case of today's speaker, even that was a challenge). So, I thought, why aren't more marketing professionals turning to politics? An original thinker -- someone who can actually *think* of what to say, and say it effectively, should be a slam-dunk.

Much like how I did in grad school -- when you're able to write effectively, you're already 10 or 20 percent better than everyone else. I sat there, with my mouth wide open, listening to this politician spew the same stuff out over and over. And then I envisioned his speechwriter, who probably advised him to "mention" these few key points; doing the facepalm, while he heard his politician repeating the same lines over and over, like a trained parrot.

It's interesting that the older I get, the less "awed" I am by professions/people -- celebrities; politicians; doctors -- there's no mystique to them, anymore. Today's broadcast was another stark reminder....