PubAffairs Blog
Can we fix it...
Lobby-Lite11 November 2008 2:33 PM
A great political speech not only transcends time but also time zones. It resonates with rich and poor, black and white, male and female. It should mean as much to someone in Boston, USA as Boston, Lincolnshire. And last week's acceptance speech by Obama was nearly there. The speech, which must have been written weeks ago, had obviously been practiced long and hard. And across the US - and for those still awake in the UK I'm sure it stood for a real change.
It came from a stance that there truly is opportunity for anyone. Spoken by a real life black president when previous versions had been no more that idealistic images on TV shows.
And when he came onto the stage - proud father and husband, prouder still President elect - he captured a moment. A moment where you knew you were watching history. The staff and patrons of the restaurant we were in, in San Francisco, stopped dead and were mesmerised. He spoke from the heart (and from memory) and around the restaurant there were tears of excitement and expectation.
And then he ruined it. Not for the Americans whom he'll actually lead. No they carried on wide eyed in wonder. But for the British in the restaurant - and I presume around the world - he brought out his sound bite of the night. His 'I have a dream' was the less ambitious: 'Yes we can'. And as we watched the broadcasts from Chicago we can't have been the only Brits to think of Bob the Builder! Forever more - when watching the new president carrying out his duties - Neil Morrissey’s voice will ring around my head signing Can We Fix It...
On a more serious note however, while the election of a black president was a huge step forward for civil liberties the same day also saw a huge step backwards. At the same time that millions of Americans voted for Obama, millions of Californians voted ‘Yes’ to Proposition 8, a proposition which banned gay marriage. As a visitor to California it was impossible to miss the adverts and posters calling for electors to vote no to Proposition 8. And on the day itself town halls across California were full to bursting of couples tying the knot - just in case.
But no-one took it seriously. No-one imagined that on a day when pure equality for politicians of all colour would be accepted, equality for all sexual orientations would take such a step backwards. With 52% of the vote, gay marriage was instantly banned. And immediately the results of proposition 8 were called, demonstrations were taking place across California and - being America - law suites were being put in place. Will be one to watch.
Heineken don?t do party conferences. But if they did?
Lobby-Lite29 September 2008 5:38 PM
…they’d be the brains behind the Conservatives this year. In ten years of Party Conference attending I’ve never seen such a slick, logistically smooth event.
The security staff are smiling ...
Tittle and tattle at Labour Conference
Lobby-Lite21 September 2008 8:24 PM
Party conferences are surreal places. All those people who would qualify for a P (political) or M (media) list spot when you notice them once in London are suddenly everywhere – and only genuine celebs (there&rs...
Lib Dem conference - the alternative fashion week
Lobby-Lite21 September 2008 8:22 PM
Yup – you weren’t expecting to see Lib Dems and fashion in the same sentence were you? But while London Fashion Week raged in London, those politically exiled from London, swept down to Bournemouth to work...
Party conference on (but not too much)
Lobby-Lite18 September 2008 11:06 AM
I was asked last week how a lobbyist can judge whether a party conference has been successful. The girls in my office say it is the freebies I bring back. Well I’m back from Lib Dems and I don’t think the ...
2012 Manifesto
Lobby-Lite25 August 2008 1:23 PM
As the last firework faded over Beijing, the British media were still conveying a sense of shock that Team GB finished so high up the medal table. But, with the highs come the lows, and now our fickle media warn that ...
Silly season for pointless PR
Lobby-Lite12 August 2008 9:45 AM
For anyone involved in the media, August is a lost month. Apart from the middle Thursday where the papers write indignantly about dumbed down A Levels, and then fill the front pages the next day with pictures of beaut...
Survival of the fittest?
Lobby-Lite24 January 2008 6:18 PM
The Times this morning reports a story guaranteed to make gym bunnies’ blood boil. The government’s considering paying fat people to lose weight. As part of a strategy to fix the bad eating habits and sede...
Gordon says...get skilled
Lobby-Lite20 January 2008 11:11 AM
Having seen those adverts with the hands telling us that we need to take control of our futures and get skilled, I signed up for an evening course.
I was a little concerned when I called to register to find th...
Gordon says...get fit
Lobby-Lite12 January 2008 11:06 AM
So new year, new body! The regular January proclamation of the unhealthy, mince-pied up and newly tee-total. And, as Gordon says, we should do thirty minutes of exercise a day. As a result I, along with many thousands...
Gordon says...get recycling
Lobby-Lite06 January 2008 11:21 AM
As an (occasionally) dedicated public affairs consultant I’m constantly advising clients and colleagues on the latest directives and ‘suggestions’ from Government. With the New Year coming round and ...
An empty diary
Lobby-Lite05 January 2008 11:19 AM
On the desk lies a pristine looking diary, not yet stained with coffee, not yet featuring the scruffy, ripped pages indicating a forgotten notebook on far too many occasions. 2008 stares up blankly. The 2008 comms pla...
If a week is a long time in politics - where did the whole year go...
Lobby-Lite30 December 2007 9:34 PM
As my first ever post I figured it was worth a look back over 2007.
This was the year of elections real ones, non-existent ones and controversial ones. There was a ...
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