Devoted to branding and building and protecting brands

Meanwhile, in the Granite State: The New Hampshire primary is underway as this is written.  Not to be confused with a “caucus” (see Iowa, the Hawkeye State).  New Hampshire is the first in a round of primary elections that will decide the Democratic and Republican presidential nominee.

Which reminds me how primaries are sort of like market tests for products and brands.  What does Brand X promise as opposed to Brand Y?  Is the value proposition compelling?  What are the “proof-points”? Focus groups have exit polls, too, right?  It’s raucous and tedious, but American electoral primaries amount to democracy reduced to its barest fundamentals.  Yes, electoral politics is shamefully awash in cash, to a point that makes it seem that big money buys elections.  But the fact is that anybody who can endure and survive the gauntlet of primary elections, anyone canny enough, durable enough and flat-out smart enough to persuade the wisdom of the crowd, deserves the office.  With rare exception, the better product wins.