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Indulge me for a moment while I veer off into the world of fantasy for a moment. The world of make believe, our crazy political world from a martian's perspective. In this fantasy, we're a group of explorers from Mars, in human form, who have landed in Washington, D.C. to understand the political system of this continent. What would be our conclusions about American politics were we to come down fresh, understanding very little of the political system? We would immediately be caught up in the "two sides". One blue, one red. One represented by donkeys, the other, elephants. Two sides. . . how can so many people be divided into just two groups of thought? They can't. There are many philosophies, but only the most powerful are given voice. So these are the two realistic options. Third or fourth candidates are not allowed to compete, really. They have "no chance of winning" or there's the fear that the third party will take votes away from "real" candidates. So the red and the blue appear to really dislike each other, but they're two sides of the same coin, always in line to keep out the fringe and so they have some common interests. Then things start to get good. . . They have an even bigger common enemy: the media. The media supposedly reports the activities of both sides so they make more money from advertisers. They're sort of the devil's advocate, but not really because their loyalty is to whomever is in power and whomever owns the media outlet. So aside from the fringe candidates and the media, these two groups have even more exciting and titillating enemies in common. Prostitutes. Most recently Louisiana Senator David Vitters who gives an awful lot of lip service to abstinence only sex ed, was identified by the DC madam and the Canal Street Madam as being a client. Under aged boys. Well. . . boy might be a bit of a frame, they were not yet eighteen, let's put it that way. Recently US Representative Mark Foley, once considered a crusader against child abuse and exploitation, got caught sending dirty e-mails and instant messages to boys who were almost eighteen. . . doesn't that count? Women. Boy are women ever a problem for politicians. There was this one incident, maybe 'the media' mentioned it once or twice. . . there was a young woman in a blue dress, an intern of some sort, and the president, Bill Clinton had a little thing for her. . . Other noteworthy enemies include. . . Closeted homosexuality. This has turned out to plague a number of people lately. There's Larry Craig and the foot tapping incident ("misunderstanding"). And Democratic Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey. At least he's no longer in the closet. Extramarital affairs. The list is too long. And really, is this even an issue people care about anymore? And women who don't like being groped or harassed (The Terminator). I could go on and on. There are obviously other enemies - crack cocaine (Marion Barry), voter fraud, blah, blah, blah. Blue, red, elephant, donkey, they seem to want to make all the laws and then break them. In our research as Martian anthropologists, we'd have to conclude that some form of perversion or criminal record is mandatory for political candidates. We'd also have to conclude that the non-politicians, the ones who vote (or don't vote), have such a short attention span that really, it doesn't much matter. It's football season and there's a new season of "The Biggest Loser" and it's back to school time and the kids need new backpacks. And before you know it, it's the holidays again. Jumping into this little fantasy world sometimes gives us a fresh perspective. It's all about framing. Putting a new lens on life. Try it with your life and your persuasion. See how it goes. Tell others about it, tell me about it on this blog. Create a discussion, invite your friends and colleagues to join the discussion here. Lord knows we need to step back from the craziness every once in a while and talk to each other intelligently about what we observe.
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Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn the business of wealthy prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion techniques.
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