***************************************************
    The Great Gordino Newsletter - Issue 308 - Mon 28th Mar 2005
    ***************************************************

    Please visit my election website -
    VoteGordonBryan.com

    Hi There,

    I hope all is well with you.
    Last week I talked about the huge volcano beneath America's
    Yellowstone Park, I taked about starting a new chapter in your
    life with absolutely no experience, and I talked about the sheer
    buzz I got from seeing the Mary Poppins musical. If you missed
    any of them, they are in the archive, link above.

    The clocks went forward here in the UK, which means we are well
    on the way to those glorious long days of summer!

    As I was wading through the river of chocolate I had bought for
    myself over the weekend, I remembered something I had
    forgotten to talk about on Friday.

    Ooh, yes, while I think about it, here's a classic marketing
    mistake.
    I wandered around the shops on Friday afternoon, hoping to
    maybe snap up some last minute Easter eggs at reduced price,
    just in case my prepared stash ran out early.
    I could hardly find any!
    In Tesco's, the dominant supermarket, which takes £12 of every
    £100 we Britons spend on the High Street, all they had left was
    the tat that no-one wants!
    All the decent stuff had gone.

    Now that can't be right, 2 days before the eggs are given out,
    with potential for plenty of last minute shopping, with a product
    that lasts for months, and they are out of stock??
    Big mistake, and I'm almost tempted to write to Mr. Tesco and
    ask if I can be the head of Easter Egg marketing.

    Of course I can't do that, because I have another job in mind,
    being an MP.
    I have been talking to as many people as possible about the
    idea, (thanks for the continued donations to my campaign),
    and have been getting both good and bad comments.

    Some people tell me that I am heading down a dangerous road,
    because I will be allowing the thick and uneducated to influence
    the way things are run.
    This is an amazing statement in my view.

    Are people saying that it is only the preserve of the intelligent to
    make decisions, and the thick people are excluded?
    Who decides the level of thickness required?
    Now *that* sounds dangerous to me...

    Besides, if people are so thick, then they won't have the
    necessary gumption to research the voting options, and actually
    take action!

    Other people have said to me that they don't want to have to
    voice opinions all the time, that's what they want their MP to do,
    and they will feel obliged to be vigilant so that political activists
    don't dominate the local voting.

    Hmm, I can see the argument, but to me it smacks of not
    taking responsibility.
    That's one of my main theories of self development and goal
    achievement, to take responsibility over your actions and destiny.
    Yes, you *can* take the view that my idea of democracy is a
    pain, that it involves effort for people, but I say that it gives
    everyone an equal chance to take responsibility if they want to.

    It's an interesting theoretical debate.
    What I also find interesting is the practicalities of what I'm trying
    to do.
    Electoral law says that I can only do certain electioneering after
    the election has been called, and this makes it virtually
    impossible to get my message across to all the people in time.

    It's this which is most likely to scupper my election prospects,
    and it feels weird for me to set off on a journey which is so
    heavily weighted towards me not succeeding.

    I will crack on anyway, and as ever, I'm all ears for ideas as to
    how to reach the 70,000 local people as quickly as possible.

    Right, before I go, here's the thing I forgot on Friday.
    Seeing Mary Poppins on Wednesday reminded me of one of the
    best newspaper headlines I've ever seen.

    A few years ago, one of the dominant football teams in
    Scotland, Celtic, played a cup match against a team many
    leagues below them, called Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
    (I've since done a touring show in Inverness, and I can tell you,
    it's cold!)
    Anyhoo, Celtic were expected to win easily, but there was a huge
    upset, and Inverness won the game 5-0.

    Here's the headline...
    Super Cali Go Balistic, Celtic Are Atrocious!

    Fantastic headline!

    Ok, here's the thought for today - take responsibility!

    'Til Wednesday,
    Health and Happiness,
    Gordon
    email me at gordon@gordonbryan.com - you'll have to copy and paste
    thanks to the idiot online spammers!



    
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