I wonder if in the age of sound bytes, YouTube, and rapidly developing media if the skills required to get elected are not drastically different from the skills required to govern.

Successful corporate CEO’s are not always the most dynamic personalities or the best media fodder.

In fact many of the super CEO’s like “Chainsaw” Al Dunlop, who slashed and burned Sunbeam into bankruptcy, or even Carly Fiorina at Hewlett Packard who was dismissed after a lackluster performance, adorned the front pages of the business magazine with their personalities rather than their results on the job.

But fortunately, corporate CEO’s do not have to win media frenzied popularity contest filled with empty advertising slogans like “hope” and “change”. They are chosen for their proven effectiveness as leaders. They are selected by boards with knowledge and experience.

As solid reporters are replaced by television personalities and basic classical education is replaced by the feel good and politically correct, will our new voters be able to understand the difference between leaders and personalities?

HKO 4/21/08

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