Are You Serious, Sealy?

Two days ago, mattress giant Sealy announced an advertising campaign that involves an open letter to President Barack Obama, offering him a "better six hours of sleep on a Sealy Posturepedic Better 6 mattress."

Wrong move, Sealy. This smacks of opportunistic commercialism with an unfocused marketing tactic that is attemping to hitch up to the Obama media bandwagon. This is precisely the reason no one's offering up any free pooper-scoopers to the leader of the free world just because he's getting a puppy.

Mind you, as a marketer, I can appreciate the desire to align with the media whirlwind that is Barack Obama right now, but it needs to be on-topic and relevant to what this administration is trying to put forth as an agenda. A restful six hours of sleep does not qualify. This is a man who, for the next 4 to 8 years, is going to have every wish, every whim, catered to by a staff of dozens whose job it is to make his life easier. That includes the bed on which he will count sheep (you're welcome, Sealy).

Why not offer a bed to the countless thousands who are out of a job right now and can't afford a new bed or to shelters for those who slept last night on the streets of New York City in sub-freezing temperatures? That seems a bit more socially responsible than offering a bed to the most mediagenic person out there right now.

President Obama

It has a nice ring to it. As the days pass after the presidential election, the gravity of the outcome has been slowly sinking in. Set aside the realization of ridding our great nation of a lame lame-duck president. It's the impact of having our first black president that has me still in awe. Mind you, when I went into that voting booth on Tuesday, I did not choose a black candidate; I chose a great candidate. Much in the same way I don't vote along party lines, I likewise do not vote along racial divides. And yet I don't wish to diminish the importance of America's first black president. It is truly historic. We are barely half a century removed from bathrooms and facilities for "colored", lynchings, and Jim Crow laws. And even today, something as seemingly innocuous as "skin-toned bandages" still carries a racial ignorance. However, these are injustices I will never fully know -- never fully comprehend -- because of the color of my own skin. So when a nation of predominantly white citizens speaks up and says, "I believe in this man," I can only imagine it propels us forward, as a nation, in the healing of our ugly racial scars. So it is now, with a president-elect Barack Obama, that I can once again hold my head high and say that I am proud to be an American.

Undecided?

This is a message to all those still-undecided voters out there: DECIDE! The only thing more annoying than the last few weeks of election news (see episode 38 of The Dave and Matt Show) is the fact that there are still quite a few people who haven't made up their minds as to whom they're voting for. What more do you need to know? We've been through four debates, SNL skits, endless news coverage, and a litany of unsolicited automated phone calls. By the way, if anyone who's in charge of those annoying phone calls is reading this, please stop calling my house. It's a week away, and I know who I'm voting for. I'm sure many of you have received these calls: "Hi, this is [INSERT CANDIDATE NAME]. I wanted to make sure you were aware of [INSERT CANDIDATE'S OPPONENT'S NAME]'s ads attacking my record on [INSERT RANDOM POLITICAL POLICY]. [HIS or HER] ads are just another example of political mudslinging in this time of financial crisis. I hope on November fourth, I can count on your support, so that we can make a difference in [INSERT STATE NAME]." I think I'd like to start a "Don't anyone ever call me for any reason whatsoever, unless you are on fire" registry. If you'd like to join me in supporting the DAECMFARWUYAOF Registry (www.DAECMFARWUYAOF.org), send me a comment, or go to the Web site. And please get all of your research in during this last week.

• http://www.johnmccain.com
• http://www.barackobama.com
• http://www.campaignforliberty.com
• http://www.factcheck.org
• http://crooksandliars.com
• http://www.nationalreview.com

"Better than a voter, is an informed voter." - M.S.

DNC-RNC DNA

I've been watching both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions with much interest. Much to my pleasure, so have many other people. It seems that the advent of online involvement and social media has elevated both the interest and participation in the political conversation. Barack Obama's speech during the DNC had 38.4 million viewers (totaling all networks that aired it). That was more people in the U.S. than watched the Olympics opening ceremony, with equal fanfare. Of course that still pales in comparison to this year's Superbowl, which garnered 97.5 million viewers, but it's a start! Let's just hope that the viewer interest translates into votes in a couple of months. There's much at stake, so the greatest thing you can do to make a difference, whether you be Republican, Democrat, or otherwise, is VOTE. After watching Governor Sarah Palin's and Rudy Giuliani's speeches the other night, I was saddened to see the kind of personal attacks thrust upon Obama. Worse than the vindictiveness, to me, was the fact that many of their points were simply baseless. Laughing at a man because of his work in the community? This was a guy, fresh out of college, who decided to help out the people of the South Side of Chicago, and they're mocking him for that? That's not the kind of qualities I'd like to see in our leadership. What are they saying about the thousands of other selfless community leaders and organizers who are helping their neighbors in some of the toughest parts of the country? I must say that I really like Governor Palin's feistiness, but I would have liked to hear her talk about more about what she plans on doing and less on what her running mate's opponent has done. And the double-talking likes of Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Dick Morris, Bill O'Reilly, and Karl Rove continue to irk me. I love it when the Daily Show calls them out on this, and they did a great job of it the other night (fast-forward to 9:00). Now, I'm not suggesting that you get all of your political news from The Daily Show, but please do get your political news from a variety of sources, so that come November, you can make an informed decision.