The contract of the current CEO is up for renewal

From an article in USA Today
September 21, 2004

When Michigan's Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm introduced presidential candidate John Kerry to the blue-ribbon Detroit Economic Club last week, she employed what may be the most artful metaphor of this rhetorically dreary political season.

In contrast to most warm-up speakers who traffic in gushy praise and partisan clichés, Granholm noted that the crowd was mostly Republican. But she asked these business leaders to imagine that they are “on the board of directors of a major diverse corporation.”

The contract of the current CEO, she explained, is up for renewal, and he wants an extension. Without mentioning the name George W. Bush, she went on to say, “So you need to look at his track record.”

Predictably, Granholm's portrayal of this track record accentuated the negative: “When he took over the job four years ago, the company had a revenue surplus, and four years later the surplus for shareholders is gone and the company now has a record deficit.”

Turning to the global arena, she said, “Under the current occupant, the brand is in the cellar of international esteem.” All this, Granholm puckishly argued, “might be an indication … that it's time for a change at the top.”