When I was out jogging today (side note: I’m finally up to 4 miles), I passed a campaign sign that was still up for Obama. Except it wasn’t – it had a prominently displayed O with a red white and blue motif, but the name after it was Omeish, not Obama. (You can see the sign on the podium of the image on the right). Turns out the local Democratic primary for state legislature is on June 9, and local man Esam Omeish has decided that his best chance of winning is by confusing locals into thinking he’s Obama. His logo is clearly inspired by Obama’s O, and his slogan, “together we can”, is remarkably similar to Obama’s “Yes we can”. (As another aside, he’s currently polling at 2%, although that may be due to his comments about jihad which don’t go over too well in VA).In politics, winners are usually assumed to have done no wrong, and losers are assumed to have done nothing right. Obama’s imagery (which was excellent) is being copied from suburban Virginia to Jerusalem. The problem is that one of the purposes to branding is to set you apart from the crowd – to singularly identify your brand and distinguish it. I have a feeling that the best branded candidate of the 2008 election will be the one who realizes the reasons for Obama’s branding success, and manages to develop their own unique and effective branding without simply copying an existing one.