“I can get those grapes. I used to be the former president of the Fox Council,” another said.

“While I,” said another, “am a member of the Fox Congress. It would be impossible for me not to get the grapes. I received several million grapes from the last election.”

“None of you will get the grapes. I am not a sly, cunning fox like you. My record is clean and unblemished, like those grapes. Run along and go for the old rotten grapes, this one is mine,” said another fox.

“You are all wrong. I am the one who will win. I will outspend you all,” said another fox who walked into the discussion.

A bear who was listening said, “Look, I don’t like grapes, and I’d like to help you out. Why don’t I act as the judge for your contest? If you want, I own a videocamera and can take videos of all of you as you try to reach for the grapes. At least we will be using technology for the contest.”

The foxes all agreed. The rest of the animals in the forest eagerly awaited the contest the next day. Previous contests between the foxes always ended up in arguments, with their sly, cunning fox lawyers or in violent confrontations. The other animals were told that this would be a fair contest, driven by technology.

The next day, all the animals watched as the foxes came out in their colors, including their supporters. The forest was festooned with banners of all colors: yellow, green, orange and other colors of the rainbow.

The video camera was hooked to the Forest Channel, so that all the other animals far and wide could observe the results. Already, the excitement was building up as some of the commentators were already airing their take on the contest. One of the commentators, a Snake, was obviously biased, and was spreading falsehoods left and right.

Suddenly, the Bear declared the proceedings open. The Bear himself was being accused by the commentators of rigging the contest. But he took it all in stride and promised a fair contest. “It will not be like before, that is why we are using technology this time,” the Bear said.

The first to try to reach the grapes was the rich fox. He had warmed up first, drank his sports drink, then proceeded to run as fast as he could. Then he jumped, and reached for the grapes. Alas, he could not reach them.

The next was the fox who was the former President of the Fox Council. He didn’t bother to warm up, took a swig of scotch, then ran for the grapes. He ran as fast — or rather walked as fast — as he could. He was already short of breath when he reached the grapes. He bent his knees, then jumped as high as he could. Surprisingly, he jumped just slightly higher than the other fox and almost reached the grapes, but he could not grasp the grape bunch firmly and landed on the ground, aggravating an old knee injury.

Next, the member of the Fox Congress took her turn. As she went on the starting line, she told her supporters to remember that she already had several million of these before, so it was impossible for her to fail. She ran as fast as she could, but when she jumped, she barely left the ground.

It was the young fox’s turn. Many doubted he could make a difference, as the survey polls showed he was last on the list. He said, “Do not listen to these surveys. This is the real survey when I get those grapes.” He adjusted his glasses, ran as fast as he could, and jumped. But to the animals who were looking, it did not really look like his feet left the ground at all.

Finally, it was the last fox’s turn. He was the son of a famous fox. He simply waited for his turn in the sweltering heat, puffing at a cigarette. Then when his turn was announced, he took his position, ran as fast as he could, jumped and as the animals in the forest and those watching Forest Channel saw, he firmly grabbed the grapes in his paws and brought down the bunch with him.

“Stop!” said the sly, cunning lawyer for one of the foxes. “The Bear needs to declare first that you are the winner before you can eat that.” So the cunning fox lawyers for all the contestants, as well as the other animals, looked at the taped replay.

The rich fox announced a press conference. He announced that the other fox had won fair and square, and that he deserved to eat the grapes. For that he was widely applauded. One of the viewers, a squirrel, said that, “this is finally the change in political culture that we have been waiting for. The technology works, and the losing candidates are conceding.” Not all, however, conceded. In the animals’ minds, except for the fox who conceded defeat, only two words resonated in their minds about the losing foxes: Sore losers.

(With apologies to Aesop. Any similarity to real world situations is purely coincidental.)