Waffling in THREE dimensions.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Character Counts

I am delaying my final essay a little bit to write this. Perhaps I'll get some important thoughts out in this little distraction. I'm supposed to write a bit on the effect of television on politics. I saw this program advertised tonight. My mom wants to move to Canada if Hillary Clinton wins. I think that is a bit brash, and not at all the solution, after all, Canada is much more liberal than the United States with their socialized medicine and various faggotries. I immediately countered her by vowing my support to the candidate. The reaction from my father was priceless! Obama is actually my choice candidate, but is no matter right now. I want to know, why don't they like Clinton? It is because of her husband or her role as First Lady? It is because of her policies or track record as a US Senator? Is it her personality? Which of these do they pick and why?
I asked the question, and tried to transcribe it:
"i think she is very contrived. I think she's very... what bugged me about her most is back years ago when her husband was elected she was going to do this that and the other stuff....that's not what the first lady does...she doesn't push major political reform on a country that's not ready for it. Am I going to fast?"
Earlier they kept stating "Character Counts". It is a catchy axiom, that is why the Boy Scouts have chosen it. They were asserting that the character of a president candidate should be determined and can be used to predict possible future behavior. The logic goes something like "if the president lies about cheating on his wife (his personal life) then he will lie in other areas (his public life)". My refute was that he most likely lies publicly out of nessessity. He cannot tell the public all sorts of national secrets and thus some obfuscation must occur. If we assume that presidential candidates run for office out of a general concern for the nation and an earnest belief that they will do a good job, a question that cannot be answered by character questions, as all will doubtlessly say they are the best person for the job, as any other answer would result in immediate disqualification, then we can assume that they will certainly try to achieve this, with varying degrees of success. As much as I disapprove of President Bush, I do not doubt for a moment that he has, what he perceives, as the nation's best interests in mind, as would any other candidate I believe. The question then becomes, not who the candidate is, but what the candidate would do, and we learn this by asking about policy ideas and hypothetical questions, not what their favorite television show is.

I've become distracted.

10 Tough Questions For 10 Top Candidates, Katie Couric Asks Presidential Candidates Questions Of Character -- And Gets Surprising Answers - CBS News

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