President-Elect Obama's Use of The Equation on the Road to the Presidency

Once we firmly understand The Equation as Love / Art * Support = Business, then we can also understand that Barack Obama had to Love several things in order to become President. People who aspire to positions of office and leadership, love either power, public service, the people they represent, the company they represent, massive attention, or all five.

And in watching Barack Obama over the past eighteen months or more, we now know that the man indeed loves the people he represents, he loves massive attention, he loves public service, and I don't know about you, but Barack Obama doesn't strike me as a soft man at all when it comes to wielding power.

Now he may pause a bit and change his mind on some of his decisions based on new information, but he's a lawyer, so we should expect that. And it shows good judgment and maturity when a man can change his mind after reflecting on a better strategy. So I would say that the President-Elect has indeed shown us the Love component of The Equation.

Artistically speaking, within a Democratic nation, whenever an individual runs for public office, they have to prove that they are the #1 person for that position. Somebody's going to be chosen as #1 in every election. That's the American way. So Obama had no choice but to be competitive and excellent in his Art of leadership if he expected to become our next President.

He first had to outrun a very popular and capable Hillary Rodham Clinton within the Democratic Party. Then he went on to outperform a well-respected Republican in John McCain for the general election. So the fact that Barack Obama is now the man in office, has proven -- at least for the next four years -- that he is indeed the best man of political Art in the country. Because there is no higher position in American politics than the Office of President.

As far as Support goes, are you kidding me! This man has broken all kinds of contribution records, raising over $260 million for his campaign. And as legend has it, thousands of people sent in $25 to $50 just to put their money where their hearts were. And remember, when Obama went overseas to speak internationally, the man was able to gather so many foreign crowds that John McCain began to slight him as more of a rock star than a real politician.

Now the President-Elect is set to have the largest crowd in American history at his inaugural ceremony in Washington. Need I say more? The overwhelming Support for Barack Obama has been obvious. Nevertheless, before he won the Democratic run-off in the predominantly white American state of Iowa in 2007, the truth is, many African-Americans were unsure if he could really pull it off . . . myself included.

And now we get down to Business. Well, I can tell you this, on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, after Barack Obama had won the presidency, I couldn't even find a USA Today newspaper the next morning. They had all sold-out. Then I heard that folks were selling newspapers for thousands of dollars on e-Bay. Now how crazy is that? I thought newspapers were no longer trendy in the internet age.

Nevertheless, when history had been broken, and a black man was set to become the next President of the United States of America, with his chocolate brown wife and two cinnamon brown daughters headed to the White House, with a promise of a puppy, every newspaper around the world made plenty of money. And that wouldn't have happened had John McCain won. Sure, they still would have sold a few papers, but nowhere near what happened with Obama.

Now hotels, restaurants, rental car services, airplane flights, buses, trains, t-shirts, buttons, you name it, expect to sell out this week in Washington. Barack Obama for President has been the sure nuff jack pot! This man hasn't even served a day in office yet. But now the real Business starts, getting the country back on track. And the man has an awful lot of work to do, while asking the government to cough up nearly a trillion dollars for immediate economic development to save millions of American jobs, homes, and long-standing companies.

So yes, Barack Obama's road to the presidency has shown every component of The Equation in plain view. But it ain't over with yet. So ask me this question again in 2010.

If you have a business question you would like me to answer please email it to omartyree@ascendantstrategy.net. For information about my new business book, The Equation, or any of my other books, please visit www.omartyree.com.