Public Relations Matter

I had lunch today in Vienna with some very astute European businessmen.

Astute businessmen who were dead wrong in everything that they thought about what was going on in the US!

How could they be both astute and so deadly wrong on every count?

Simple, they read everything available to them in the public press. They watch the BBC and CNN. They listen to the speeches and the commentators, devour the editorials and follow the issues closely. That's astute.

I remember as a undergraduate learning TECO on a DEC-10 in the 70's, my instructor was always quoting the programmer's mantra: "Crap in - Crap Out."

That's why these "astute" businessmen got everything so wrong.

According to the European story, everything in the US under George Bush is going to Hell in a handbasket.

Europe, on the other hand, is ascendant!

According to the media here in Europe:

The US budget deficit is out of control.

The dollar can no longer stand up as the world's reserve currency.

Iraq will never end and America is being sucked into another Vietnam.

Crime is rampant.

People are out of work as all of our jobs are exported to China.

The economy is spiraling downward.

A Democrat/Republican civil war is imminent.


No wonder the dollar is oversold! Who would invest in a country like this?

The only problem, of course, is that none of this is true.

The US budget deficit is large, but shrinking.

The Iraq War is tragic and costly, but we are also winning it and the establishment of a westernizing democracy in Iraq has already wrought positive changes in the Middle East.

All classes of serious and violent crime are in decline in America.

Unemployment in the US is half the rate experienced in the Euro zone and dropping.

US economic growth is the highest in the industrial world with the exception of Switzerland and Sweden. By contrast, Eurozone growth is practically non-existant.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress are fighting like cats and dogs. But for goodness sakes, isn't that what we pay them to do? But the fight is all for show. Most Americans couldn't name their own Congressman on a bet. Nor could they name the respective national party chairmen.

Most Americans are working too hard during the day and playing too hard at night to care about what is going on in Congress.

No, the fact is, the only battle we are losing is the public relations battle in Europe and Asia. We need to do a better job of managing our public image overseas.

The lesson of the 1960 Presidential election is still instructive today. John F. Kennedy smiled and won the hearts of the television audience. Richard Nixon scowled and lost the election.

In more recent times, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan smiled alot and told the world pithy stories. They were loved. George W. and Jimmy Carter were stern and school-marmish and the world believed that the US was doomed.

So, America, be like Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie and "Put On A Happy Face."

The world will love you for it.