Elmo for President?! Yeah!

This came in on my older FB feed a while ago.

Which provided for a good laugh, followed by some colourful discussion of who should be Secretary of State or Defence. (I voted Cookie for Defence)

Just for the kick of it, and because I was that un-inclined to go work on anything else, I also listed down in my head the reasons why I would vote for Elmo for president. These are:

1. He's all furry and sweet and caring. Other leaders would be compelled to hug him, bringing about world peace.
2. He's puny and weak in appearance. Which is a phenomenal psychological advantage in any sort of negotiation.
3. Kids love him! He would work wonders with the next generation. Elmo would do so much for kids too, since he's that sort of guy.
4. No issues about security. Super Grover watches over him!
5. He's red. In a sea of black clad bureaucrats, he provides for visual and relief. Such as when one is forced to watch boring political broadcasts.

LOL. Yes, let's all vote Elmo for president. President of the world! This is not nonsensical blabbing, because, come on, haven't most of us been voting for Elmos all along? Not the red muppet of course, but the likeness of. How many of us voted for a politician because he/she projected such a sweet, caring, oh-I-care-so-much personality? How many of us supported a politician because, you know, he was so great with kids while on telly. How many of us ever considered colour to be, ahem, an important factor, when deciding whom to gift our votes to? Someone has to be ************ in colour before I would even listen to him?

Not nonsensical ranting, eh, if I put it that way.

I think there are plenty of Elmos in leadership positions all over the world. And I'm not talking about political leaders only. Elmo leaders are found in every field of work, these leaders being the ones voted, promoted or elevated into position not for their actual capabilities, but because of the attractiveness of their personae. Down the road, when things start to go wrong, these leaders morph further into Elmos in order to stay in power. They do this by pumping up the likeability or by playing victim. A lot of times, they make it a combination of both, as in "Everything I do, I'm doing for you! I'm working endless nights FOR YOU!" Almost without fail, song-and-dance also becomes the default solution for any crisis. A case of, let's sing the Elmo song! Oops! I mean, let's sing MY song, la la la la. Let's feel good about everything and forget about everything!

La la la. Oh please! Elmo would be a terrible leader! Why would anybody vote for him? Personally, I prefer Mr. Snuffleupagus. He's sagely. He's stoic. And you need to be quite special in order to see him, at least before 1985. Oh wait. That's just another dicey leadership archetype, isn't it?

Enough of rambling. Time to get back to work.