Carly Fiorina and remedial classes in political campaign advertising

As an aficionado of storytelling and advertising, I'm alternately fascinated by/repulsed by political advertising. And there's a Senate race that catches my attention right now.

I want to like Carly Fiorina--I really do. She's the former head of Hewlett-Packard, a cancer survivor, and now a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. This is a lady of real accomplishment.

And yet her new 3 1/2-minute campaign ad has become a viral hit for the wrong reasons. Where to begin... the animal motif, the decision to devote so much attention to her opponent, the freakish man/sheep at the 2:26 mark, the lack of information about Fiorina herself, and the underwhelming amount of time given to her ideas as a candidate.

She has so many weapons at her disposal, but her campaign chose to air a laughably-produced attack ad? Please. With a new candidate--even one with a distinguished career in the computer industry--there's an education process involved. The public has to get to know her.

And this is exactly where you use her life story as a weapon. She has the guts to outlast a deadly illness. She's an overachiever. And she's a breath of fresh air (read: change) for a state with a longtime Democratic senator.

Hmmm, I seem to remember a certain president riding the concept of change all the way to the White House. Now it's time for Ms. Fiorina to position herself as a change agent with a compelling life story.

Watch the crawl

It's often interesting to note the choice of words various networks use at the bottom of the screen. For example: in explaining Alabama's victory over Texas in the national championship, ESPN stated that Bama "survived a late surge by Texas."

This is true, yet only half true.

The other half is that Bama's powerful running game and stifling defense staked them to such a large lead at halftime, that Texas--without its star quarterback--was ill-equipped to mount a sufficient comeback. Had Alabama scored no points at all in the second half, it still would've won by three points.

And still, it's the late surge by Texas that gets ESPN's notice and also their postgame discussion. These choices of words have a way of framing how the game is viewed and remembered. He who controls the nature of the debate often determines its outcome--even if the facts may say otherwise.

So watch how the crawl and the words spoken by the anchors function as mirror images of one another.

I don't mind re-reading the same book to my 5-year-old because...

literacy can make or break a child's education. It encourages curiosity, introduces new and tougher words for young minds to learn, improves vocabulary, and provides seemingly hundreds of additional benefits.

As a child grows into a young adult, communication skills borne of literacy offer a scholastic and workplace advantage. One of my most engaging professors at the U of Alabama was a veteran of corporate America, having worked at Time Warner and Pfizer. And she was a firm believer in the power of the the written and spoken word. She once imparted the following to me verbatim: "The most underrated skill in business is the ability to communicate clearly."

Amen. And I provide this link as further evidence of the power of literacy--especially for children. Now go read something before you nod off tonight.

Never say never--or always

During our 8 years of marriage, my wife and I have had a few laughs about this. She often punctuates her speech with never and always--which unleashes the English major in me. Because rarely in life is something an always or a never. Chances are, we've done something of which we're speaking at least once.

And that's what I remind my wife. And that causes her to change her "never" to occasionally. As an example, she might say, "I never get to shop anymore."

Me: "You went last month."

Her: "Ok. I hardly ever go shopping."

Me: "And you're going again tomorrow."

Her: "Ok. I don't go shopping often."

Fact is, it's just too easy to rebut always and never. Whether in conversation or the body copy of an ad. That's why I steer clear of it.

Full disclosure: my wife is highly intelligent; I'm simply a word freak. Always.

A simple understanding of the word "faith"

Theologians and secularists debate its meaning and implications ad nauseum, but for me--a word freak--it's really quite elementary.

Faith is not and never has been about certainty. The word dates to the 13th century and embodies belief itself through its myriad contextual uses. But here's the thing (and I'll use a sports analogy): it's similar to being ahead 21 points heading into the 4th quarter. More than likely, you'll win. Yet you have to compete knowing that it's still possible to lose.

Faith allows for doubt--a probing, intellectually curious kind of doubt. The kind of uncertainty that seeks to further its own understanding for the purposes of unearthing deeper knowledge. So I'll leave you with this head-scratcher. If doubt didn't exist, would faith?

Christians in Cinema

I attended an Act One weekend seminar a few years ago in Nashville. Had a blast. I hope these folks come back to the Southeast again soon.

Cooing

This may not have much to do with writing--or does it? My two-month-old daughter, Alex, (short for Alexandra) is beginning to coo. Not only is it an adorable sound, it's a baby's first effort toward speech. So yes, I'd say that's germane to writing.