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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (28441)	9/10/2006 9:10:59 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541015

Yes, I was aware I had ever so slightly changed your emphasis to "polished." Turn about's fair play and all that. ;-) But, in my defense, I was trying to think of a president whose speech patterns one could call evidence of reasoning ability but who was not a good public speaker. Jimmy Carter, for instance, was touted to be very analytical yet I certainly didn't see it in his speech patterns. He was not a terrible public speaker so far as logical persuasion, but I certainly would not have given him high marks. Bush II clearly gets low marks. But who comes to mind that gets high marks on the reasoning-in-public-speech criteria who was not, in turn, a "polished" public speaker? You could have, for instance, said that about the early Bill Clinton. One of the worst public speeches I have ever heard was his speech nominating Dukakis at the 88 convention. And, in the 92 campaign, he certainly had no reputation as a good public speaker. The rap on him was to put him in a room with a crowd that could ask him questions and he would be spellbinding. Particularly in comparison with Bush I who could not think on his feet. And that was certainly true. I watched Clinton enough in 92 to see it. And as, with several things, his public speaking ability improved through his presidency. Such that one could not now say he is evidence of a president who is not a polished public speaker. Just curious.

To: Lane3 who wrote (28441)	9/10/2006 10:48:08 AM
From: Dale Baker	Respond to of 541015

"polished" is not the issue. Having the mind to deal with complex issues is the issue. Polish has nothing to do with that. I think that having a mind adept at handling complex issues is right at the top of the list of qualifications for president. That's not to say it's the only only one, but not having it is an automatic disqualifier. Well said - you win the best summation prize in this whole silly debate. I would add that there is a likely but not necessary correlation between speaking in simplistic slogans and thinking that way, and thus creating US government policies without sufficiently complex analytical foundations.