Why I Love the Presidential Primary Season: So Many Lessons to be Learned
Leslie Ungar
Guest Author
I love the presidential primary season. Most Americans say they hate it, but I love it for Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, and even Bernie Sanders and his 90% tax proposal. The Donald is used to saying whatever he wants, whenever he wants to say it. So in his speech to announce his “candidacy” he called immigrants from Mexico rapists and basically sex offenders and drug lords.
NBC has fired him, almost a million people have signed a petition for Macy’s to stop carrying his products, and so it goes. The Donald till the finish, swung back at NBC for being spineless when they fired him.
When he was a reality figure, he had one audience. As a presidential candidate, it is a different audience, even if it is the same people. An audience holds a reality figure to a different expectation than they hold a president.
A corvette is a great car, but not if you have eight children. A shovel is fine, but not if you have to plant a hundred trees. A Yorkie is a cute dog. But a Yorkie is not going to save you in the Swiss Alps.
It is not a question of whether you have value. It is a question of whether your value fits the job you are interviewing for. Make no mistake, candidates are interviewing for the job of President.
As you know from your own workplace, an employee might be fine for sales but not so fine for sales manager. A senator might be fine for the Senate, but not so fine for President. History tells us this is true because there was no senator elected president between JFK and President Obama.
Just because you are a reality celebrity does not mean that same audience that adores you as The Donald, will vote for you as President.
Lech Walesa was a great organizer of Solidarity in Poland in the 1980’s. As President, not so good. His skills did not fit the job.
Mike Huckabee, after the historic Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, said “The Supreme Court may have made marriage equality the law of the land, but that doesn't mean people should go along with it.” Our forefathers created the Constitution, where like it or not, the Supreme Court has the final say. Americans will decide about Huckabee and his version.
Make sure your skill set fits the job you are applying for. Even if you are a cult figure, even if you are a billionaire, the rules of communication are the rules.
