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Candidate's best tag: A likable kind of guy (Kerry, Mr. Likable?)
Chicago Tribune ^
| April 24, 2004
| Jill Zuckman
Posted on 04/24/2004 8:52:49 PM PDT by jwalburg
NEW YORK -- Bored with the political speechmaking in Harlem's Alhambra Ballroom, 6-year-old Iris Kerry Kaler reached out with both arms for her uncle, Sen. John Kerry, to pick her up.
The Massachusetts senator, however, ignored his niece's entreaty, offering Iris only an awkward pat on the stomach despite the array of television cameras poised to record the potentially precious moment. It was a missed opportunity to demonstrate his warmth by holding the little girl in his arms just days before last month's New York primary.
As Kerry runs for president, he is not competing only against President Bush. He's also battling a long-held perception that he is remote, aloof and perhaps even unlikable. It is on that question of likability that elections have been known to turn.
Unlike lesser elective offices, the presidency is highly personal to most Americans. Voters often want to feel a kinship with their president, even a sense of friendship and trust. For four years the president frequently visits their homes by television, unlike most senators, congressmen and governors.
Throughout modern presidential history, candidates such as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, who conveyed a sense of sunny optimism and warmth, have succeeded at the ballot box. Those who projected a humorless pessimism, such as Bob Dole and Michael Dukakis, have failed.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: campaign; issues; kerry; likability; likable
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John Marttila,Kerry's longtime political consultant in Boston, believes that by November, voters will have all the information they need to choose between Bush and Kerry, regardless of what each campaign says about the other candidate. Yep.
1
posted on
04/24/2004 8:52:50 PM PDT
by
jwalburg
To: jwalburg
Kick mean unka John in the shin, Kerry.
2
posted on
04/24/2004 8:55:08 PM PDT
by
T'wit
(There's no evidence "Bush lied." But I can PROVE Bill Clinton told the truth -- once.)
To: jwalburg
I have already had enough of Kerry and his Ice Princess wife.
3
posted on
04/24/2004 8:55:32 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(To increase the power of the State over the individual is a crime against Humanity.)
To: jwalburg
Kerry is remote, aloof and unlikeable.
4
posted on
04/24/2004 9:01:44 PM PDT
by
pubmom
To: T'wit
Or a bit higher! ;D
5
posted on
04/24/2004 9:03:44 PM PDT
by
NYC GOP Chick
("If I could shoot like that, I would still be in the NBA" -- Bill Clinton, circa 1995)
To: jwalburg
I still like Dennis Miller's line about Kerry being an Easter Island statue with a power tie.
6
posted on
04/24/2004 9:04:18 PM PDT
by
Hugin
To: NYC GOP Chick
Hey, he might award himself another Purple Heart for that!
7
posted on
04/24/2004 9:04:36 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(To increase the power of the State over the individual is a crime against Humanity.)
To: Army Air Corps
You know, that's the kind of thing I wish I'd thought of first!
8
posted on
04/24/2004 9:05:56 PM PDT
by
NYC GOP Chick
("If I could shoot like that, I would still be in the NBA" -- Bill Clinton, circa 1995)
To: jwalburg
To: NYC GOP Chick
Oh well. Or as Kerry would say, "c'est la vie."
10
posted on
04/24/2004 9:07:01 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(To increase the power of the State over the individual is a crime against Humanity.)
To: Hugin
That's it exactly!
11
posted on
04/24/2004 9:07:03 PM PDT
by
jwalburg
(Mr. Kerry, why did you remain in VVAW after the assassination plot meeting?)
To: hole_n_one
To: Army Air Corps
You're making me feel very inadequate tonight!
13
posted on
04/24/2004 9:09:00 PM PDT
by
NYC GOP Chick
("If I could shoot like that, I would still be in the NBA" -- Bill Clinton, circa 1995)
To: jwalburg
Besides being unlikable, the guy's a stuffed shirt.
Would you like to be next to this guy in a bar drinking a beer?
14
posted on
04/24/2004 9:09:28 PM PDT
by
THX 1138
To: NYC GOP Chick
That one hour time difference really counts!
15
posted on
04/24/2004 9:11:29 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(To increase the power of the State over the individual is a crime against Humanity.)
To: Hugin
LOL!
To: NYC GOP Chick
I like the Freeper name: descriptive, yet pithy.
17
posted on
04/24/2004 9:13:02 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(To increase the power of the State over the individual is a crime against Humanity.)
To: Army Air Corps
Nah, that's not it. I'm usually at my best the later it gets -- I suppose I get punchier. I'm just off my game tonight for some reason...
18
posted on
04/24/2004 9:13:20 PM PDT
by
NYC GOP Chick
("If I could shoot like that, I would still be in the NBA" -- Bill Clinton, circa 1995)
To: NYC GOP Chick
Have you had the requisite amount of caffeine? Two double espressos can help help one out of the doldrums...
19
posted on
04/24/2004 9:15:23 PM PDT
by
Army Air Corps
(To increase the power of the State over the individual is a crime against Humanity.)
To: Army Air Corps
Not too much caffeine -- I have to be up early in the morning!
20
posted on
04/24/2004 9:16:40 PM PDT
by
NYC GOP Chick
("If I could shoot like that, I would still be in the NBA" -- Bill Clinton, circa 1995)
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