Clinton and Obama as Managers

Leave it those Neanderthals over there at Harvard to bring in another aspect into the mudslinging of candidates in this political race between John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama: click here

(Just kidding on that...I went to Brandeis so we have much love to our brethren down the Charles River...and even more love for their business cases)

Without getting into a real political discussion here, it's amazing that this hasn't been brought up more often. Especially the "Managing People" aspect. President Bush has done an unbelievably inept job at this in his time as President between "Scooter" Libby and his two Attorney Generals (the latter of which got into a lot of hot water over his "Managing People" skills) and the scores of other officials around him (don't forget FEMA and the whole Katrina disaster) who turned out to be incapable of handling their job, incapable of managing others, or just totally inept.

And lets not forget Bush hasn't done a great job at "Managing Money" either, as highlighted by this article in the New York Times: click here

Mr. Robert Hormats [vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International] mentioned Social Security and Medicare, saying that both could have been put “on a more sustainable basis.” And he cited the committee’s own calculations from last fall that showed that the money spent on the war each day is enough to enroll an additional 58,000 children in Head Start for a year, or make a year of college affordable for 160,000 low-income students through Pell Grants, or pay the annual salaries of nearly 11,000 additional border patrol agents or 14,000 more police officers.

We'll let that sink in.........

Ok...and let's also not forget the whole "Managing Expectations" aspect either: click here

So do I agree with the article? Not completely. Leaving McCain out of the article completely but instead referencing him in passing at the end was not exactly the most even-handed way to do it.

And I think that both Senators Clinton and Obama both have "Managing People" problems. Obama's have definitely shown up recently with his association with Tony Rezko and Clinton's are most prevalently with her own husband--which is another story completely (and could go towards keeping those under your watch under wraps and in control).

And while "Manager" may be a broader title, for the Human Resource aspect the money management realm, while important, is not really relevant.

But the idea is a good one--which candidate would make a good Human Resource Manager. Because those thirsty for change, don't want President Bushes running their country and those in charge won't want President Bushes running their companies.

Update: Yeah...about "Hilldog" and her ability to Manage People: click here