Devoted to branding and building and protecting brands

It's been ten days since the election but it seems longer.  Maybe that's because of President-elect Obama's abbreviated honeymoon.  Which is already over.  A loss of 5,000 points on the Dow will do that.  But this post is about selling, not finance or economics.  The fact is that the head winds in the marketplace of voters facing John McCain, beginning about mid-September, were never, ever, going to be surmountable.  He was burnt toast.  Hand it to Obama for his clear and consistent message, near flawless execution, and the adulation he inspired in the press corps.  Still, no Republican, no matter how "Maverick-esque", or lovable, overcomes what McCain faced. In the observation of veteran political consultant Charlie Cook (Business Week Nov. 17), McCain was not only eight years past his 2000 prime, he tried and failed "to change his brand", in Cook's words.  More ideological than he ever sounded before, McCain was perceived as out of tune and out of step with what the moment required. This was a different John McCain. Voters resisted his value proposition because it was not relevant to their needs.  Obama, the new model on the market, represented the irresistible alternative.  The market demanded "new", not "different".