Wouldn’t you love to be able to describe your company’s brand in a few words? What if you could say it in just one word? I believe that our presidential candidates can.

I usually avoid political comment. But this election is too important. First, I want to say this: VOTE. If it’s not convenient for you to go stand in line on election day, get yourself an absentee ballot NOW. I’ve already voted. There’s no excuse for any U.S. Citizen to not vote. It’s really important this time, so please do it.

Now, back to branding. I’m going to throw out two words. You decide which candidate could easily use which word to describe their brand. If you can see which is which without me saying names, then it’s clearly the case.

Socialist

Capitalist

Those are the words. Can you associate the candidates with their words?

Socialists believe the government should be in charge. The government can manage everyone’s lives, from health care to finances. And if there are people who just aren’t making it... even if it’s just because they’re lazy... the socialist will take more money from the ones who are making it and redistribute the wealth. Everyone can be comfortable. As a socialist system evolves, more people will choose to be lazy, leaving fewer ambitious people to support them (at a higher and higher cost).

Capitalists believe that if you give people the opportunity to accomplish great things, they will. If you create an atmosphere where accomplishment is rewarded, people will strive for the rewards. The down side of this system (in the socialist’s eyes) is that there will be winners... and there will be losers. Ambitious people tend to win. Lazy people tend to lose. As the capitalist system evolves, more people will be motivated to succeed when they see that it is possible.

So who will the lazy people vote for this year? They’ll vote for the socialist. In fact, the socialist will help them with the difficult task of voter registration, even provide transportation to the polls for those who aren’t otherwise ambitious enough or bright enough to do it for themselves.

Heaven forbid that we let the lazy people choose our leadership for us. Yeah, we’re busy trying to make money right now. It’s hard to make time to vote. It will be harder to give up an even larger portion of that hard-earned money to a government that will redistribute it to the lazy people later on.

Get an absentee ballot now, or plan your November 4 around voting. (Unless you’re voting socialist. Your day to vote is November 5.)