Rick Perry: the GOP’s Lady Gaga?

Since Fashion Week is taking place in New York right now, I just couldn’t help myself…

What’s the one thing an aspiring designer’s collection can do to stand out in a sea of fabric on the runway? The same thing a candidate to can do to stand out in a sea of political hopefuls: Be audacious.

Texas Governor Rick Perry scares the stilettos off me, but the one thing I must give my nightmare’s campaign consultants credit for is his audacity. Since announcing his candidacy, he has the most outlandish, unfathomable, and outrageous sound bytes of any candidate I can remember.

From calling social security a “ponzi scheme” to not believing the federal government plays a role in our childrens’ education, to even questioning whether or not the President is patriotic, his audacious quotes continually get his name mentioned on the news, virally over dirty martinis and in office break rooms across the nation. His brazen, rash comments are so over the top, they’re news (although they haven’t landed him in the same situation as John Galliano, yet…). If he wasn't audacious, I wouldn't be blogging about him right now. You don't see me blogging about John Huntsman, do you?

The only thing I can compare his words to are Lady Gaga’s performance ensembles!

So whether you’re in fashion or politics and need to stand out, one thing will always hold true: Be audacious!

The President's Necktie

A lavender-blue, wide necktie that hung almost perfectly straight drove the President’s message home to this fashion-savvy politico. The color echoes that of the early morning dawn, or the rebirth of the American Dream to the citizens of the United States of America.

“Americans do not care about politics – they have real life issues,” our fearless leader confidently claimed last night, and he’s right.

The average person does not care about politics, they care about their families and themselves. One key example that President Obama pointed out was that parents are postponing retirement to send their kids to college, my parents fall into this shoebox, which is just one in a few million that could take up the entire Mall of America.

He referenced the baby boomer vision of the American Dream, and put the responsibility of bringing it back on the Armani-suited shoulders of the elected officials of Congress.

I sharply disagree with one of Chuck Todd’s comments last night about the President’s American Jobs Act legislation plan. Todd said there’s a marketing plan, but what he doesn’t see is a legislative plan to “ram rod” this bill through the House and Senate. Chuck, not only do I disagree with your opinion, I really disagree with your tie.

What Obama’s speech inspired me to do was tweet, call, write, blog, and email my elected officials to make them vote for the President’s legislation. If we Americans put enough pressure on the members of Congress that represent us, it can pass. Yes, there’s a full-swing Presidential Primary going on in the Republican Party right now, but, “we can’t wait 14 months.”

Politics is the art of compromise, and what the President implied he was proposing is a piece of legislation that both parties can agree on because it involves several compromises on issues.

I challenge every single person who reads this blog to not judge a shoebox by its cover and to read the American Jobs Act. If you support it, call the elected officials who represent you and are supposed to have your best interest at heart and tell them to support it too.

On a side note, what was Hilary wearing? And Mr. Speaker, you consistently disappoint me in your tie selection. From your St. Patrick’s Day green tie to the cotton candy-colored blob you wore last night… It’s always a fashion fail for you.

Obama's Jobs Speech: The Politico in Stilettos' Thoughts

It's interesting that CNN's American Morning anchors were asking guests on yesterday morning’s show, "what do you want to hear in a jobs plan?"

Sure, we'd all like to hear something to make us sleep easier at night with dreams of financial stability in our heads. But is that what we need?

This 26-year-old is tired of being babied. America take off the Pampers training pants and put your big girl panties on!

I am exhausted of hearing about all the Republican candidates’ jobs plans. They’re basically the same thing with different wording and the bullet points are in different sequences.

What are college kids thinking right now? Or are they even concerned about it? If I was in undergrad right now, I’d be scared of not being able to find a job after graduation. Sure, there is always graduate school, but that’s not a permanent solution.

So if I had been a guest on CNN this morning and they asked me, “what would you like to hear in a jobs speech?” Here’s what I’d say…

The question isn’t what would I like to hear, it’s what should I hear. I should hear the scary reality that our nation is facing issues of mountainous proportions right now, and creating jobs is yes, one of those elephant-sized issues. I should hear that America as a whole is going to have to work as a team to get back on track… that at the end of the day, it’s big corporations and small businesses, it’s Democrats and Republicans working together for the good of the country, not for their own agenda.

And I applaud Rachel Maddow’s clip that aired during a break on Morning Joe this morning where she confidently conveys what huge things America has been capable of, and will continue to be capable of.

The movie A Beautiful Mind made an excellent point: the greatest outcome will come by doing what’s good for yourself and what’s good for the group. When small businesses do their part, when corporations do their part (and nothing super scandalous obviously), when we all strive to reach the same big, broad goal, it can be achieved. If we focus all our energy on obtaining set goals for both ourselves, our jobs, and our country, I deeply believe we will see things shift for the better.

In my opinion, the President’s job speech should not tell about all the jobs he is going to create. It should ignite a flame inside each and every one of us and motivate the nation to get to work. I should hear a speech that will make me work harder each and every day, that inspires me to start my own business on the side and be able to employ a college student part-time so they are able to contribute to the economy by choosing to pay back their student loans while enrolled in school (or buy shoes).

President Obama needs to inspire the nation this evening, which is the very thing he did when he ran for President. No, he need not give a campaign speech, as most people are probably expecting. He needs to ignite that spark inside each and every American from the beginning to the end of this speech this evening.

Robert Frost wrote in his poem The Road Not Taken, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

Where there is a will, there is a way. Look at the feats this nation has accomplished when America takes its own path. After all, that’s what America is founded upon.

This Fall’s Jimmy Choos: Calling for Government Transparency?

It’s not uncommon that fashion designers, from prêt a porter to haute couture, express their political views in their designs and/or their advertising.

My favorite political fashion designer is Kenneth Cole, whose advertisements for his Fall 2011 Womens’ Ready to Wear Collection clearly depict his personal political views.

My personal favorite is this one regarding the pro-life versus pro-choice continuous debate. Pay particular attention to the way this question is worded. Was the original sentence “It should be a woman’s right to choose if she’s the one carrying it.” And Cole switched the first two words to make the viewer pause and realize this his intended point?

Here is another example from Cole advertising campaigns from past collections.

On to my point… I posted this photo on Facebook this cold, rainy morning in early September at first because I was excited about fall fashions. The more I got to thinking about it, is Choo subtly making a point with his shoe designs?

With the 2012 elections

approaching with cheetah-like speed, would Choo be calling for greater transparency in government? In campaign finance? Do his shoe designs speak out against Citizens United? With more and more PACs and super PACs forming to help get candidates elected, where’s the money coming from?

So all you politicos, maybe there’s more to a Choo than meets the eye.

Ensuring Political Stability: A must for Democrats across the nation

“A house divided amongst itself cannot stand.”

Well, neither can a political party, and the national GOP has done a fabulous job proving this point. However, this Politico in Stilettos is deeply concerned about the recent talk of scary Rick Perry waking up sleepy Democrats across the nation more so than any other national political figure on the scene right now.

Now is not the time for sleep, now is the time we need to lace up our tennis shoes (or slide into a pair of ass-kicking stilettos) and hit the streets. As Democrats, lefties, or whatever you want to call yourself, we need to ensure our party’s stability by standing behind incumbent Democrats and initiating campaigns against incumbent Republicans (like former West Virginia State Senator Mike Oliverio is doing).

The GOP is weak, disjointed, and out of touch with the American dream. All I hear on the morning news, from Morning Joe to CNN to NBC’s Today Show, is that the Republican Party has no front-runner and therefore zero stability. They’re divided between scary Perry, John Huntsman and his horrible ads, Mitt Romney, and the craziest of all, Michelle Bachmann. Even more frightening than witchy O’Donnell is the possibility that Sarah Palin may run. (Hmmmm...Maybe I’ll be Christine for Halloween…)

It’s high time we lefties capitalized on this! I understand elections are all about timing, and there will be several Democratic primaries across the United States of America. Good luck to all Democrats, but I think it’s time we saw the forest for the trees, or the shoe store for the heels, when it comes to 2012.

“Think not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

Political Consultants, Hail to the “V”

Juan Williams, one of the speakers at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce 75^th Annual Business Summit, talked about the 2010 Census statistics and how this related to the future of political campaigns.

(No, I didn’t get to actually hear the speech because I was getting a facial and taking a personal day to relax, but my boyfriend’s company is one of the event’s sponsors, so he relayed this to me over lunch. And don’t judge, everyone needs a break once and while.)

According to the 2010 Census data, females outnumber males in the United States 50.8% to 49.2%. There was a sex ratio of less than 100, further confirming the point that there are more females than males in our nation. (And why isn’t a female President yet?)

Williams said that females between ages 18-30 is the largest emerging age demographic, and that will only continue to grow. So what does this mean for political campaigns?

We’ll see more campaign ads targeted toward this female age group. Political consultants will need to craft messages that appeal to and will energize this diverse group of fearsome femme fatales.

Of course, we’ve already seen female-targeted political ads. Here’s an example from the October 2010 race in Maryland. Former Presidential Candidate John Kerry also targeted women.

But the women between 18-30 years of age today are a Choo of a different color than a couple years ago, especially when it comes to race. For example, there are more Hispanic females today in our nation than two years ago.

I must admit, I look forward to watching “the good old boys” try to craft messages to appeal to this group. And hopefully we’ll get more young, vivacious females involved in the political arena.

In other words, hail to the V!