"Barack didn't have a campaign, he created a cause - a community of believers," Castellanos said. "McCain could have done that [with his message of Country First]. McCain created a campaign about himself: I put country first."
"McCain had potential, but he threw it away," Begala said. "He could have leveraged [his message] to become 'I'm the anti-Bush Republican.'"
David Jones, global CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide, Andrew Benett, co-CEO of Euro RSCG New York and global chief strategy officer, and Bruce Haynes, managing partner of National Media Public Affairs, were also on hand to discuss the momentum of the campaigns and this ground-breaking election meant for brands going forward. Euro RSCG Worldwide recently released a brand momentum study which found that in mid-October, Obama had momentum of 82.2, slightly less than Wii, which had 84.4. A group discussion then kicked off, with questions about Obama's leadership team, how to turn around the Republican brand, and the informal nature of the campaign, with many folks referring to Obama as simply Barack.
The panel is the first in a series of events from Euro RSCG Worldwide, with the next one, scheduled for early next year, to focus on value.