Barak Obama's Mistake

The Democratic Convention is underway. It appears as though it is all systems go and, while it certainly does not get the attention it once did, most likely the Dems will get a boost out of the convention (as will the Republicans after their convention in September).

Barak Obama and The Democrats also tried to get a bump heading into the convention by using a novel idea to announce his Vice Presidential choice. I think the idea was good but it backfired, in large part (in my estimation) due to the way it played out. Obama wanted to announce his choice by text message. Those reporters, and others, who gave Obama their cell phone would be the first to know.

Obama then blew it. He told the world on Thursday that he had made his decision but he was not going to announce it. It was as though he was sticking out his tongue and saying “Neh, Neh” or “Ha Ha”. By some reports he was supposed to announce on Friday, others said Saturday and, for his purposes, Obama seemed content to sit on the information.

It is not surprising then that someone started to leak the information. As a result, the Obama campaign sent out a Text message at 3AM on Saturday, announcing the choice of Joe Biden as the VP candidate. They had to scramble to save face. Unfortunately, some damage was done.

First off, initially I was interested in who he was going to pick. When he said Thursday night that it was a done deal, I may not have liked it but I could give him a little time to make the announcement when he wanted. By the time Friday afternoon rolled around, I lost interest (I think others did too). I thought he handled things poorly and as a result, I have had little interest in watching this convention. I also think he did not get the anticipated bump.

The lesson here is, you can come up with a great idea for teaching, for getting messages across in the classroom but the idea is only part of the battle. You need to have the idea and it needs to be implemented carefully and correctly. Hopefully, I will be able to learn from Barak’s mistakes.