Love her or hate her Sarah Palin shook up the presidential race.
For Republicans she seemed almost too good to be true arriving with a great life story, a great convention speech, and with the right gender to attract interest from disgruntled Hilary Clinton supporters. After being added to the ticket Republican polls and rally numbers surged.
But is the nature of sales gimmicks to always seem too good to be true at first. When used successfully the push is for a quick close immediately after their introduction. But the "close" here is a November election and as the time ticked it was uncovered that parts of Palin's storied life had been enhanced for prime time. As with any human promoted overnight to rock star status, it’s tough when humanity catches up to a legend.
Whether the Palin nomination becomes known as a sales gimmick or not will depend on the substance she shows in the next few weeks. Little substance and she will be VP road kill. Or she could rise to the occasion with a stunning debate performance against VP Democrat Joe Biden and belay the concerns.
A fresh new appeal can quickly becomes seen as a sales gimmick if its substance does not match original billing. Once a sales gimmick is exposed as a self serving sales technique it back fires as no buyer, or voter, likes to be taken for a fool.
To avoid the sales gimmick trap don't over sell. Present your product honestly and without exaggeration. Palin may be very capable. But being over sold at the Republican convention has hurt her ability to achieve widespread credibility, at least for now.
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