Can You Import Hope??? Maybe! We! Can!

A quick detour into the international realm. One thing that people who follow campaigns know is that winners get copied. Strategies, tactics, and messages that work in one context inevitably get tried in another. While we're normally familiar with this in the U.S., we're seeing an interesting attempt at borrowing taking place in the current Israeli Knesset elections. While I'm not going to even attempt an analysis of what's going on or what's likely to happen--I know my limitations--there have been a number of stories pointing to how candidates on all sides have looked to replicate what Obama did. For complete coverage leading up to next week's vote, see the Jerusalem Post's rundown.

A few weeks ago, the New York Times wrote about Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu's appropriation of Obama's website design. Yesterday, the Washington Post looked at the efforts of Kadima's Tzipi Livni (she even has a Facebook page!!) as well as those of the smaller Shas party (which largely represents Israel's Sephardic population). The latter has gone so far as to adopt "Yes We Can! (With God's Help)" as their slogan. For you Hebrew readers out there, here's Shas' bumper sticker:










Pay attention to next Tuesday's vote to see how things play out. I may deputize some of my in-laws for post election analysis so stay tuned.