Going Where

Was Biden the Right Pick for Obama's VP?

In my post dated August 5, 2008, I noted that both Barack Obama and John McCain were born in the summer time, which is the "south" or emotional time of the year using the Native American Medicine Wheel. Scientific research supports the fact that people born in the summer have stronger, more resiliant nervous systems as compared to those born at other times of the year. Obama, however, rather than starting with home place on the Wheel in the emotional, seems to be using a more North (i.e. winter birth pattern) of being more thinking based. McCain, in contrast, is the "most emotional Senator in the Senate."

Obama's drop in the polls over the last few weeks has been surprising to many. Obama won the primaries by tapping into America's feelings. As I said in the earlier post, Americans have preferred to elect summer born or "emotionally" based Presidents for the last half century. Obama's shift to a more "nuanced" or intellectual approach appears to be costing him at the polls. The good news for the Democratic convention this week will be that it will be highly emotional and can perhaps turn around the current trends.

In terms of the VP spot, Joseph Biden was born in November or the "West" portion of the Native American Medicine Wheel. If Obama gets back on his message of hope and returns to a more emotional and inspiring approach, then Biden provides him with "forward" movement to the physical/knowledge part of the Wheel. Like Hillary Clinton who was also born in the West, Biden is highly experienced, very knowledgeable, and knows how to get things done.

On the other hand, if Obama continues to be based in the thinking or North part of the Wheel, then Biden can draw Obama into the the "think-do" pattern which creates poor results. This is bad enough when we do it in our own lives, but it can have profound ramifications when our country moves to this approach. (BTW, Bush's pattern is to start with the emotional, his home place on the Wheel and back into his beliefs for justification. This is the pattern he used to justify having the U.S. tak action in Iraq).

If Obama shifts back to emotion, then uses Biden's "experience" to formulate a plan, then they're back on track. Nevertheless, what seems to be missing from this equation is how they will tackle the spiritual/belief/community side of this equation. Success comes from using the emotional, physical, mental, and spirtual together. If you leave out any part of the equation, the results can be distrastroug.

Unlike the Clintons who polled constantly to monitor what the country/community was thinking on various issues, it's unclear to what extent Obama is listening to those outside his campaign. If he were listening to what the polling data said, he would have chosen a different "West" person, Hillary Clinton, for the VP spot. Fifty-six percent of the Democrats wanted her on the ticket.

Since the Democrats are having their convention during the "emotional" part of the year, look for this to be an emotionally powerful event. Since emotions are running high, don't be surprised if there are more than a few emotional outbursts. Given that America still seems to be focused on "feeling," this week should deliver plenty for everyone.

Posted by Bernice Ross, author of Going Where: Ancient Wisdom for People Today

Photo by MarcN

Barack Obama and John McCain--Will the Most Emotional Senator Win the Presidency?

One of the key principles about the Native American Medicine Wheel is that forward motion yields positive outcomes and backward motion produces negative outcomes. In a previous post, dated February 8, 2008, I argued that we would probably elect a President who was born in the summer. The summer is associated with the emotional part of the Wheel (referred to as the "South.") The basis for making that prediction is that since 1988, all of our Presidents have been born in the summer including Bill Clinton. In 2008, we are still as a society, pursuing our feelings. Logic is not as important as honoring what we feel.

Even though Hillary Clinton was still the "presumptive" nominee at the time, given the emotional nature of our times today, it didn't seem likely that her message of "experience" would resonate with the American electorate. Clinton is born in the fall the "West" direction on the Wheel.  She has a masterful knowledge of the facts and can discuss them easily with no notes. This is what you would expect from a West person--knowledge or "knowing" is their key strength. HIllary emphasized her experience which is a West's person's greatest strength. The electorate, however, wanted to feel good and Obama's message of hope hit the right chord.

In contrast to Hillary Clinton, McCain and Obama are both in the South/Emotional part of the Wheel. What's interesting to note is that even though they both have emotions as their base strength, their demeanors and styles are quite different.

McCain is known as the most emotional Senator in the Senate. He trusts his gut and is unafraid to go against what others think. He makes decisions trusting his emotions first and then combines that with his experience, before making a plan. Because of this approach, he has gained a reputation as a maverick. His willingness to work with Democrats, often to his party's chagrin, demonstrates that he takes actions based upon his community as well. This is full forward motion on the Wheel.

Furthermore, those born in the summer have no challenge coping with emotional turmoil.  The scientific research shows that those born in the summer have calmer, more resilient nervous systems, as compared to those born at other times of the year. This may also help to explain how McCain was able to endure five years of torture that would have destroyed most people. McCain goes from his emotion and ties it to his experience. McCain's movement movement on the Wheel may at least partially account for  the "positive outcome" of his nomination.

Obama's approach is very different. He radiates a calm, even approach. The challenge for Obama in terms of the Wheel is that he appears to be taking a "North" approach to the campaign that emphasizes thinking rather than emotions. 

For example, after defeating Hillary Clinton, Obama began expanding his campaign support. Hillary's supporters were accustomed to in-fighting and confrontation. Any one who wanted to join the Obama campaign was told that the tenor of this campaign would not allow for internal disruptive behaviors. North individuals want to avoid confrontation. They prefer to approach things logically. Some of Obama's supporters have termed the former college professor, "the most thoughtful person in the Senate." Unlike McCain, Obama tends to trust his head rather than his gut. This is a serious problem for anyone who is born in the South/Summer since emotion is their strength.

Using the Wheel as a guideline, Obama would be better served by returning to his message of hope. People feel good when they hear Obama speak. He inspires them and helps them to feel that things will improve if he is elected. Remember, the American electorate is still feeling based. As Obama has shifted his message from hope to "citizen of the world" and "We are the ones that we have been waiting for," (this is moving to the East or community part of the Wheel and is backward movement), he has veered away from what took him to the nomination--tapping into America's feelings.

While the American public loves hope, they are also angry about gas prices and they have legitimate fears about an expanded conflict in the Middle East. Yesterday, Putin said that Russia should be back in Cuba. McCain will probably continue to play upon the emotions of anger and fear. His rise in the polls during the last week shows that tapping into American emotions is working for him.

Bill Clinton won the 1992 election by portraying himself as the "Man from Hope." The question for Obama is how he will meet the challenge--with thought which will probably cost him the election or with hope?

Posted by Bernice Ross

Photo by MarcN

Will the Season a Presidential Candidate is Born Influence the Outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election? (Part 2 of 2)

Both Native American tradition and hundreds of scientific studies show that the season in which you are born has a profound influence on our lives. Will these influences have any effect on the 2008 Presidential race?*

    

Why Romney and Giuliani lost to McCain and Huckabee

In Part 1 of this article, we looked the relationship between season of birth and the outcome of American Presidential elections. There were a number of surprising findings. According to Native American Tradition, those born in the spring are builders of communities, they have a strong relationship to their higher purpose in life, and their spiritual beliefs are important to them. Both Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani are spring births.

   

What's interesting to note about each of these men is the different roles that they have played in their respective communities. Romney successfully worked with the world community to clean up the mess with the U.S. Olympics. He led the effort to create universal health care in Massachusetts. He is a deacon in his church.

    

Giuliani was instrumental in leading New York City through the terrible days following 9/11. His programs reduced crime throughout the City and improved the quality of numerous neighborhoods. Each of these achievements coincides with what Native Americans believe to be the best about the spiritual or community part of the Wheel.

The challenge is that in the last 108 years, Americans have only elected one President who was born in the spring, John F. Kennedy. Americans today prefer their Presidents to have feeling—that’s why we have elected so many Presidents who are born in the summer, the “feeling” part of the year.

The Triumph of Hope and Feeling

Prior to Romney, Giuliani, and Thompson dropping out of the campaign, Republicans couldn’t seem to get behind a single candidate. The reason? Huckabee, McCain, Paul, and Thompson are all born in August. So were Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Since 1988, all of our Presidents have been born in the summer. It seems highly probable that 2008 will repeat the same pattern. This will be a foregone conclusion if Obama wins the Democratic nomination. Hillary, who was born in October (fall), is the only remaining candidate who is not a summer birth.

      

Those born in the summer have nervous systems that are able cope with stress and adrenaline more effectively than those born at other times of the year can. This may explain part of McCain’s ability to survive torture in Viet Nam. It may also explain why he has a reputation as a hothead. In fact, bad tempers are common to those who are born in the summer. Bill Clinton’s temper has been on display as have Huckabee’s and Obama’s as well.

    

The positive side of those born in the summer is their ability to inspire others emotionally. Numerous research studies show how important hope and optimism is in keeping us healthy. Furthermore, Americans as a group, tend to be optimistic. Ronald Reagan played well to this in his Presidential bid. Bill Clinton billed himself as “The Man from Hope.” Huckabee and Obama have had success with a similar approach. Furthermore, when Huckabee was asked why he refused to drop out of contention, his response was “My passion keeps me in the race.” Emotions are what America wants and Americans love an underdog. This also helps to explain why Ron Paul’s supporters are so loyal and passionate about his candidacy.

    

Hillary's Uphill Battle

Hillary’s initial campaign played upon her experience and her ideas. This is exactly right for her. Native Americans believe that strength results when you move with the energies of the seasons in sequence. In Hillary’s case, her starting place is in the fall or the physical. The correct “sequence” for her would be winter, mental; spring, belief; and summer, feeling.

    

The challenge for Hillary is that she is now being forced to play in the realm of feeling. In fact, many believe that Hillary’s emotional tears help her to win the New Hampshire primary. For Hillary to go to her “feelings” is akin to going backwards from fall to summer. It’s not what is natural for her. As a result, many people felt that her tears weren’t real.

    

Obama's and Huckabee's Challenge

Obama and Huckabee have created an interesting challenge for themselves if you consider the model of moving forward following the seasons. Huckabee has made his religious/spiritual beliefs the cornerstone of his campaign. This is akin to moving from the summer to the spring. It’s backwards. Huckabee has done better when he focused on his achievements as governor (experience—moving from summer/emotion to fall/ physical accomplishment.)

    

Obama has been likened to JFK. He possesses the emotional power to excite audiences and to make them feel hope and optimism. He paints the picture of a better world community, one where we share the wealth and everyone has access to health care. The challenge he faces, however, is that he lacks Hillary’s and McCain’s experience. For a person born in the summer, the physical experience or what he has accomplished in the past (what he knows) is the next logical step to creating desired outcomes. Focusing exclusively on feelings and beliefs ignores the wisdom that comes from experience as well as the logic necessary to implement the changes that he wants to make.

    

McCain's Secret Advantage

For John McCain to go from his feelings to his experience is the same as moving from summer to fall. It’s a natural progression according to Native American tradition. So far, this combination has lead McCain to be the likely nominee. The question is will it lead to the Presidency?

       

When You Play with Fire, You Will Probably Get Burned

America is in an era where emotions seem to be more important than logic. Democrats have been rightfully concerned about a major battle on the convention floor for their nomination. This fight could be brutal. Unlike the Republicans who have their convention in September (the fall or “harvest” time of year), the Democrats are holding their convention in August, the height of the emotional time of year according to Native Tradition. People who are passionate now will be even more so in August. The challenge is that when people become highly emotional and they don’t get their way, it’s easy for them to act out of spite. This means a huge block of voters may vote for McCain to retaliate for their candidate not getting the nomination.

    

Bottom line—no matter what happens we’ll have a South or summer born President living in the White House. The question is whether it will be Barack Obama, John McCain, or First Husband Bill Clinton.

   

*See Part 1 for an explanation of each of the seasons and their meaning. 

   

Posted by Bernice Ross

Photos by Marcn , Dan Delay,

Bernice Ross, Ph.D. is the author of Going Where, Ancient Wisdom for People Today, a ground-breaking work that marries scientific research with ancient Native American traditions to guide readers to creating happier and more fulfilling lives.

Will the Season a Presidential Candidate is Born Influence the Outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election? (Part 1 of 2)

Native Americans believe that the season in which we are born influences the energy that we carry throughout our lives. Surprisingly, hundreds of scientific studies support this traditional belief. Could the season in which a President is born actually have an important influence on the mark they will leave in American history? Could it possibly influence the outcome of the 2008 Presidential election?

According to Native American tradition, winter or “North” on the Native American Medicine Wheel (December, January, or February) is the time you do your mental planning or thinking for the year ahead. Spring or “East” (March, April, or May) is the time you plant, which involves an act of faith that your plants will grow. Springtime relates to your higher purpose and your beliefs as well as how you interact with your community. In the summer or “South” (June, July, or August), you nourish what you have planted. Summer is about feelings and emotions. In the fall or “West” (September, October, or November) you reap your physical harvest. Fall is about past experience, physical activity, and what you know.

The science and the ancient wisdom agree on the fact that winter births are more thinking oriented, summer births are stronger emotionally, and that fall births have a physical advantage. Currently, there is no research showing that spring births are more belief-oriented; however, there is considerable research that shows that thinking, believing, feeling, and knowing use different parts of the brain.

Does America have a preference for certain candidates based upon season of birth? Assuming that season of birth does have an influence, what, if any effect would it have on the outcome of the election for 2008? Length of Term When we examine the season in which each of our past presidents were born, we see a perfect distribution: 11 born in the winter; 10 born in the spring; 10 born in summer; and 12 born in fall.

The Table below, however, shows some very interesting patterns that appear to also be playing out in this year’s Presidential election.

Spring born Presidents Support America’s Vision of Community: “All men are created equal.” During the first 111 years of our existence, 52 percent of the time, our country was lead by Presidents born in the Spring or “East” part of the Medicine Wheel. Of our first ten Presidents, five (50 percent) were born in the spring. According to Native Tradition, the East is about your community, your spiritual beliefs, and/or your higher purpose in life. Americans believe in equality and fair play. We have willingly opened our arms to people from all over the world and probably have the most ethnically diverse culture in the world. Today we still strive to create communities where “All men are created equal.”

2. 1901 to 2008: A Profound Shift—the Vision Left Behind? At the beginning of the 20th Century, there was a profound shift from a preference for spring born Presidents to those born in the winter or in the summer. In fact, in the last 108 years, Americans have only elected one President born in the spring—John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was a visionary who tapped the best of the qualities of spring births—community, giving back to others, and creating a vision of a better world. Since he’s the only 20th Century President that was born in the spring, it’s not surprising that he will also be remembered as the most inspirational and visionary President of that Century.

3. Ten Times More Feeling: Prior to 1900, America elected only two summer born Presidents—John Quincy Adams and Henry Harrison. Adams served 1461 days and Harrison served only 31 days. That’s 1,492 days (under 4 years) out of 111 years. In stark contrast from 1901 to 2008, summer-born Presidents have served 16,427 days or over 10 times as much time as before 1901. In fact, since the end of World War II, six out of our 11 Presidents (54.5 percent) have been summer births.

4. Spring and Fall Contenders Lose Big Time In the last 108 years: Presidential contenders born in the summer have won 75 percent of the elections in which they competed vs. 69 percent for those born in the winter. In sharp contrast to winter and summer born contenders, those born in the spring have only won 1/12 elections (8.5 percent—the 1960 Kennedy win) and those born in the fall have only won 3/12 (25 percent) of the elections in which they competed.

Is there a reason that Hillary continues to emphasize her experience while Obama and Huckabee are on a message of Hope? What made John McCain the choice over Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani? Why are Ron Paul’s followers so emotionally committed to him? How will McCain fare against Hillary or Obama? In part 2 of “Will the Season a Presidential Candidate is Born Influence the Outcome of the 2008 Presidential Election?” we’ll look at what Native Tradition can tell us about the candidates as well as the challenges they will face.

Posted by Bernice Ross, Ph.D. the author of Going Where, Ancient Wisdom for People Today, a ground-breaking work that marries scientific research with ancient Native American traditions to guide readers to creating happier and more fulfilling lives.

Photos by SoggyDan and DCJohn