You know, the thought occurred to me that Obama and Bush are more alike as political campaigners than are G W Bush (W) and Clinton or W and McCain.
Now bear with me, and erase the post 9/11 W personna from your mind.
Both W & O are personality campaigners, both stress the insignificance of experience (recall that Gore had more and 'weightier' political experience than W). Both ran as populists, using the rhetoric of faith. In W's case it was religious faith, in Obama's it's secular; but, nevertheless it's an appeal to the irrational rather than the rational. (I'm not knocking the irrational here - it's a part of all our minds) Their use simple sentences laced with abstract value terms that are vague enough that the listener can interpret them however.
They appeal to 'the Folk'.
In that sense, they were both the benefactors of that old Coke add. "I'd like to buy the world a Coke and sing in Perfect Harmony... it's the Real Thing...." That add conditioned us for that type of leader.
Both men are comfortable on stage - in 'their own skins' as people say. Gore certainly wasn't, nor do I think Hillary is. McCain, yeah, he is I think, but not in the same way.
Am now expecting to get shot down by both sides (all sides?) but seriously, don't I have a bit of a point here?
c. (staring at all the snow.... another foot again)
