Tomorrow’s British election is on course to be only the third time in 31 years that the country has changed its government. Margaret Thatcher swept the Conservatives into power in 1979 and Tony Blair ushered in a period of Labour Party control in 1997. Yet an election that to many appeared a certain victory for David Cameron and the Conservatives turned out to be an unexpected roller coaster of a ride.
Read the full article here.
In communications, there’s a fine line between making your voice heard and shooting yourself in the foot.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve been thinking a lot about Levi Johnston – the twice almost son-in-law of Sarah Palin – and how he could benefit from some communications guidance. The father of Palin’s grandson has made a career out of extending his fifteen minutes of fame – posing for Playboy, appearing in music videos, and now announcing he will run for the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Read
Next week marks the 90th anniversary of women’s suffrage. Seventy-two years after Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention and introduced the concept of women’s suffrage into the national conversation, Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment.
Today the discussion over women’s equality continues, with national groups on the left pushing for more government protections through legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Act. And conservative women claim greater freedom – not more government intervention – is the key to advancing women’s rights.
Often lost in the crossfire is an honest consideration of women’s accomplishments today. Nearly a century after securing the vote, women flaunt some fabulous figures:
• Women earn 57 percent of bachelor’s degrees and 59 percent of master’s degrees.
• Nearly a third of PhD’s are awarded to women.
• Women are the majority of graduates in every professional school, except business school, where they still account for a third of graduates.
• 75 percent of veterinary classes are women.
• Businesses with more senior female managers make more money.
• Women make up 16 percent of the corporate officers of Fortune 500 companies – up 50 percent since the mid-1990s.
• In the 2010 midterm elections, 239 women are candidates for the House; 31 for the Senate.
• Women control 83 percent of consumer spending; 9 out of 10 women are the primary shopper in the household.
• Women now buy the majority of cars.
While the facts continue to be a little blurry, it’s clear that First Lady Michelle Obama’s decision to take a lavish trip to Spain has become a PR nightmare for the White House.
Certainly some bad calculations were made. Taking a trip overseas, rather than visiting some much-needed tourist destinations in the states (like the Gulf coast), seems at best careless and more likely thoughtless. And her public exposure, often being caught by cameras flaunting haute couture, suggests a serious rift exists between the Obama’s and mainstream America.
At the very least, the picture of an extravagant vacation during a serious economic recession was not politically savvy. And it’s a perfect example of how quickly public opinion can turn. Just last month, Gallup released a favorability poll, in which Michelle Obama “outshines all others,” including her husband, Hillary Clinton, and several Republican presidential hopefuls. I’m waiting for the next round of poll numbers to be released, but I suspect this is a trip that has tarnished the First Lady’s shine.
In the end, however, Republican pollster Steve Lombardo (h/t NRO) is probably right, “The backlash over the First Lady’s trip is a trap for GOP. Ignore it. Focus on jobs.”
The country is quickly dividing into two camps: Those who watch Mad Men and those who don’t.
If you haven’t seen the AMC original drama, I encourage you to get caught up.
For those of you who are already two seasons deep into the drama of Don Draper’s 1960s life at the fictional Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce ad agency, you likely watched the season premiere “Public Relations.”
At a time when the notion of social networking was not yet embryonic, a profile in a leading newspaper was a golden media opportunity for a young advertising firm. But for Don Draper – man of mystery – knowing how to take advantage of the interview eludes him. Read
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Chelsea Clinton just got married. Wedding bells chimed over the weekend as Chelsea and longtime boyfriend Marc Mezvinsky were wed in Rhinebeck, NY against the backdrop of the Hudson River.
It’s not surprising that Americans were eager to learn all the details about the former first daughter’s nuptials. All of us (ladies, at least) love to sneak a peak at romantic bouquets, gowns and a first kiss.
But reports from the media were not all rosy. In fact, there seemed to be a not-so-subtle message about why we’re all so eager to catch a glimpse of Chelsea walking down the aisle.
It’s a great time “for us to take a look at what she has become,” historian Doris Kearns Goodwin told The Today Show. “She’s the ugly duckling that’s become a beautiful swan,” presidential historian Doug Weed added.
Wow. So the truth comes out.
I admit I enjoyed clicking through the photos posted online, but isn’t it time we just leave Chelsea alone?
Dolly Parton may have had it right when she recorded that song in 1980, but the days of juggling it all in a 9am-5pm world are numbered.
Newsweek has a great article about how the down economy is actually helping change the culture of corporate America, by encouraging more flexible workdays:
Now, one in five Americans works mostly nonstandard hours—nights, weekends, or rotating shifts. Experts believe that statistic will balloon in coming years as the Great Recession accelerates a cultural shift in the corporate world, allowing more employees to tailor their work schedules to preference, position, and personal life. Read
The summer hasn’t started out so well for President Obama. He has suffered a constant barrage from critics on both the right and the left who claim he has failed to show leadership when it comes to the Gulf oil spill. Not surprisingly, with all this hostility, the president’s poll numbers have started to slip.
Now, mid-June, Gallup finds that the President’s job approval rating is 46 percent. Just two days after the President’s Oval Office address, Rasmussen Reports found 61 percent of voters “view the president’s handling of the oil leak crisis as poor.”
Near double-digit unemployment, robust opposition to the health care overhaul, an unrelenting war in Afghanistan, and now the BP oil spill has generated consistent bad press for the president. More and more, his critics claim he is ineffectual. Read
Gender roles may be more fluid today, but in Japan women still want men who are penny-wise. At least that’s what a new ad run by the Japanese Ministry of Finance is telling young bachelors.
Japan is in a bit of financial trouble these days. The country holds one of the largest government debt loads in the world, yet Japanese households are buying fewer government bonds than in the past.
That’s why the government is trying to appeal to young, single men and encourage them to buy bonds because, as they promise in one of their ads, “men who hold JGBs are popular with women!”
Another ad flaunts a young woman asserting, “I want my future husband to be diligent about money…Playboys are no good.”
It’s hard to know if their ad campaign will get them out of the red, but it sure is good communications!
Who said spin is just for politicians?
A new movement to reinvent the modern American cemetery is making its way across the country. According to news reports, burial grounds are tired of their teary-eyed reputation, so they’re shedding this forbidding face for something a little, well, livelier.
When it comes down to it, it’s all a matter of perspective. As one Colorado cemetery manager told a local reporter, “People come to cemeteries, and they are always looking down.” But if they looked up, they might notice the century old history, plant life and culture that infuse the graveyard.
The trend is not simply to offer tours, like the ones you can arrange at cemeteries like Père Lachaise in Paris or Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, DC. Instead it’s to turn the focus away from death and toward – for lack of a better word – life.
Fireworks, jazz concerts, and art exhibits are some of the kinds of social events cemeteries are planning to help draw in visitors. Friends will be encouraged to take pleasure in the historic trees and rose gardens that flank many burial grounds. And many cemeteries are hoping to be a place where communities can gather in times of joy, rather than sorrow.
In Washington, we might call it spin. But cemeteries are refashioning themselves in a new light – hoping they can be a place of solemnity, as well as inspiration.