Just saw this HI-larious post about the imminent Obama “regime”. It's a laugh… unless you believe it.

Last night, I watched a Daily Show feature from last week. It was eye-opening. The conclusion was that the campaign trail is run by fear. Sad, stupid, and true.

Not just Republicans, who are labeling Obama as a “Socialist”, which is “the new Communism”, an evil thing. But Democrats too, labeling McCain the next W, despite the fact that he was fairly moderate until he needed the support of the religious right.

Even drug addict radio host Rush Limbaugh, who I had to suffer through while working on a stage last Friday, didn't want McCain because he was “too liberal”. Which sorta says, McCain wouldn't be nearly the extremist of Bush.

Don't get me wrong. I'm fine with labeling. It's a way to market some things. But anyone subjected to marketing needs to know they are being marketed to, else they fall victim to fear.

You see, one of the easiest ways to market anything is through fear. It's easy to get sucked in and think that if your candidate doesn't win that the world will come to and end. But it”s not true. It means, you believed the lie that politicans sold you. But do you remember? They are politicians. Their goal is to polarize and make you fear the other guy, or make you excited about your candidate.

Ultimately, fear is the worst marketing tool, IMHO. It's what lost Kerry his election (“anyone but Bush”). And I believe it's also why McCain will lose, because I see a lot more people Excited about Obama. But we'll see tonight…

So the lesson. Listen to politicians with a discerning ear. Make your choice intelligently… sans fear.

Meantime, here's some more marketing lessons from the election.