Presidents And The Charm It Takes

December 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
2009 Five Presidents George W. Bush, President...
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Every presidential hopeful makes the case for themselves on their stance on issues. They might not say a whole lot but they do attempt to let their record and their in line fairness with other voters speak for themselves. Without it they feel as if they have no chance in winning the oval office but the truth is it isn’t what you say, but how you say it that seems to matter the most these days.

While it’s true that there have been many great presidents in the last 50 years, many of them might not have just been the best guy for the job, but also the most charming guy in office. Somewhere around the time of the great Kennedy vs. Nixon debates did the world start looking at a President not only for who he was but also “how” he was. The argument can be made that since that time the more charming, or charismatic, a president has been, the more likely he has been to win the White House.

This idea was in full effect in 1992. There an unknown governor from Arkansas that challenged the returning president George H. Bush. The governor was Bill Clinton. At the same time that he was making his push for the oval office was an independent candidate Ross Perot. The two men that were running against Bush were not of equal caliber. Clinton was an Oxford graduate and had the political pedigree. Perot was a self made billionaire. Clinton may have only been equipped to handle the office, but where both of them succeeded was being able to charm the American people more than Bush did.

It was Clinton that took office, much in part to the way he was able to dominate at the debates and show a little humor where Bush had been unable to do so. It’s a wonder if a President can win the office without being charming?

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The Impact of the Nixon Kennedy Debate

December 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In the quest to President there are more than a few things that you must be. You must be well educated. You have the backing of one of the two main political parties. You must have a good strategy to get into office, and up until the 1960′s that was it. However, the great debates of Nixon and Kennedy changed what it would take to win the oval office.

Nixon was the former vice president and one of the brightest political minds in the world. He was going against Kennedy who was much better known for his families name than he was for his political career. On paper there was really no reason to pick Kennedy over Nixon. Nixon seemed much more equipped to handle the needs of the Oval Office.

In was during the campaign that they decided to televise all the Presidential Debates. During the first debate Nixon had decided that he would wing it. He was on the campaign trail until hours before the debates. He had opted not to prep beforehand. He figured his innate knowledge of the American political system would be enough to get him into office.

Another thing that he decided to do was not wear make up. He was just getting over getting sick but he figured that make up wasn’t needed. The result was horrendous. While Nixon made excellent points, it was Kennedy who came off like a star and a leader. Nixon looked sick and his five o’clock shadow made him look a sinister human.

The result was that even Nixon’s mother was concerned that her soon had not gotten over his illness. This all led to a flurry about Nixon not being the right kind of person to handle the pressures of the Oval Office. It’s not clear that he would have won had the debate been different but it certainly didn’t help his chances. It was a lesson for all presidents to follow.

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The Outrage Over The Patriot Act

December 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Bush administration was one of the most criticized of any presidency. It made some very bold, and some very unpopular decisions during their 8 years occupying the oval office, but there may have been no decision more unpopular than The USA Patriot Act. On October 26, 2001 this very polarizing law was put into place. In order to understand why it was such an unpopular law you must be aware of the back story involved with this serious law.

The acts of September 11 shook the country to it’s core. Having an attack on American soil really made people rethink the measures that the country was taking to protect its people. For one thing there was a serious problem we had with no longer dealing with immoral characters to find out information. This practice was applauded up until that time. Once the attacks hit it became clear that you could not expect to learn information about bad people unless you were willing to deal with bad people.

The other issue that arose was the issue of whether or not we were being too lenient with everyon’s privacy. There was a camp of people who believed that we were acting correctly in not keeping a close tab on the private citizens. While the camp was divided there were many who were caught off guard when the Patriot act was put into law in October.

The law was met with a lot of criticism. People didn’t see the law as a necessary step to protecting the American people, but rather they saw the act as a way for the government to become too intrusive and used the tragedy of 9/11 as a way to muscle it through Congress. It was a decision that would label the Bush Administration as an Orwellian Big Brother organization and it would last throughout the eight years in the Oval Office.

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George W. Bush Political Controversy

September 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

George W. Bush wore many hats during his time in the Oval Office. He was parodied on Saturday Night Live as a buffoon. He was hailed by the Christian Right as the leader of their movement. And he was seen by liberals as a power-hungry politician who was owned by corporate interests. Of all the ways the media attempted to portray Bush, perhaps the most damaging was as an accidental president who earned his office only through luck and subterfuge. There was enough smoke allow the accusations to linger.

Bush won the Republican nomination for the presidency after a contentious primary against John McCain. McCain was an experienced Senator from Arizona and a Vietnam War hero. The McCain campaign attempted to portray their candidate as a pragmatic choice, who would not sacrifice his values for political gain. McCain spoke out against the Christian right. He spoke out against the Rev. Jerry Falwell, whom McCain described as an agent of intolerance. Bush capitalized on the rift between McCain and the Christian right. Bush won the nomination after engaging in controversial push polling techniques in South Carolina. The Bush political team pushed the perception that McCain had fathered a bi-racial child out of wedlock.

Many political observers attributed dirty campaign tactics to the influence of Karl Rove. Rove had developed a reputation of doing almost anything to ensure that his candidate would win. While the tactics used against McCain proved to on be a blip on the radar of media coverage during the 2000 presidential election, it established a pattern of controversy that would surround the Bush Administration heading into the general election.

The 2000 presidential election would prove to be one of the closest in history. Bush did not win the popular vote. The outcome hung in the balance as news networks declared Democratic candidate Al Gore the winner in the pivotal state of Florida before declaring it too close to call then switching to saying it was a borderline victory for Bush. The narrow margin ensured that Bush would be a controversial president, something his tactics did nothing to contradict.

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