Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Do you remember the 70′s cigarette commercial with the jingle “You’ve come a long way, baby?”  It was a lame attempt to market tobacco to modern independent women.   Didn’t think much of the slogan then, but the jingle lived on long after the marketing campaign.

I was reminded of the catchy phrase when I saw the headlines about all the women around the country who won elections on Tuesday.  The one standout for me was Meg Whitman.  Politics aside, it was amazing that she spent close to $100 million bucks of her own money during the campaign.  Now that’s coming a long way baby!!!  Not sure it’s all that good for the democratic process.  But I do think it’s great that a woman was a tremendous corporate success and has the resources to go for something else she believes in. Regardless what the people of California decide, Meg Whitman deserves credit for smashing another glass ceiling!

That is the question…and I get it all the time.  I was watching Nancy Pelosi last night on the PBS News Hour and she was talking about the passage of the historic health care bill that was signed into law earlier this week. Putting politics of the issues aside, I was struck by Pelosi’s ability to stay on message regardless of the many times Jim Lehrer, the interviewer, wanted her to bash her Republican colleagues.

If I were coaching Ms. Pelosi, I would give her kudo’s for bridging back to her main points and being very disciplined and not rising to the bait by revealing any harsh feelings she may have about the grueling process she had just witnessed.  However, there’s one behavior that distracts from Ms. Pelosi’s message and that’s the constant smile that she wears in all of her media interviews.  Sometimes it looks like her face has been cast in plaster and the smile sits there without regard to any human emotion.

For people who are regularly in the media spotlight and talking about controversial issues, instead of a constant smile, I suggest they create a warm and friendly demeanor.  Smiling all the time is not natural.  But if you can think “warmth and friendliness” it looks more authentic to the viewing and listening audience.  Smile if it comes naturally and the rest of the time, be yourself and think “warm and friendly!”