Friday, December 13, 2019

UK Election 2019: Why Good Guys Can (and Often) Lose

Jeremy Corbyn of UK was supposed to be the good guy. He is decent, respectful, thoughtful, and genuinely cares about every one in UK. His opponent, Boris Johnson is seen as a racist clown. And yet, Boris has won a historic majority for the Conservatives and Jeremy has led Labour to its worst defeat in decades. Why?

  1. Even if you are a "good" guy, you need a plan. Often the good guys think just being good is enough. It never is. You always need a plan; in fact you need MANY plans. A practical plan, a backup plan, a risky plan, a risk free plan, and hail mary plan. Jeremy seemed to go into the election as "I am not Boris". That almost never works (note: Democrats of USA, pay heed).
  2. Clarity over confusion. Boris had a clear plan. "Get Brexit Done", he said again and again. Everyone knew what he meant. Everyone knew where he stood. Now, it is almost certain that UK will be out of EU within a month. What was Jeremy's stance? Did he want UK in? Out? Did he like the EU? Hate it? What was his plan? No one knows.
  3. Finally, charisma. This is the TV age. The social media age. The Twitter age. You have to be able to present your ideas in 30 seconds, or 240 characters, and look good while doing so. Boris, clownish as he is, clearly has personality and charisma. Jeremy, on the other hand, would put dodos to sleep.
SO now, perhaps at long last, the messiest divorce in the world that us EU-UK will come to an end, and UK will be out. How will that change world politics? All that I know of is, anyone writing off Trump in 2020 is making a big mistake.

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