Go Fred Go
Posted on 12/22/2007 7:37:25 AM PST by greyfoxx39
WASHINGTON – It's the word you hear in drafty Iowa gyms where voters gather to shop for a candidate, on the cable news outlets where the analysts ponder the imponderables, in the endless drip, drip, drip of email endorsements.
Authenticity.
It has become the buzzword of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, and the authenticity test appears to be shaping the race.
The next American president will have to be – or perceived by voters to be – the real deal. He or she must be consistent and appear to believe what they are saying, without the political artifice and calculation that savvy voters in Iowa and New Hampshire so easily reject.
Authenticity and character have always been strong drivers of campaign success, but four years ago at this point Iowa Democrats relied on electability above all else when they propelled John Kerry to their party's nomination.
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McCain began airing a campaign ad in New Hampshire Wednesday, trying to play to this strength.
"One man warned us we were failing in Iraq, and told us how we could turn things around," the voice-over says.
"He took a lot of heat, but he stood by what he knew was right. Today that strategy is working."
McCain then says: "I didn't go to Washington to win Mr. Congeniality. I went there to serve my country."
He has picked up a spate of newspaper endorsements, and almost all go to the authenticity issue.
"In an age when too many candidates are driven by polls and focus groups, fashioning and refashioning their `core' beliefs, McCain is a man of unwavering conviction and integrity," the Boston Herald said.
Romney, the man derided as having "anchorman" hair and being a late conservative convert on the road to Des Moines, has big authenticity problems.
In recent days, he has mischaracterized a National Rifle Association endorsement and admitted he didn't really see, as he claimed in a major speech, his late father, former Michigan governor George Romney, march with Martin Luther King.
Maybe that's why the former Massachusetts governor has begun to tear up on the trail, getting emotional on Meet the Press twice in one interview, once discussing the 1978 change in his Mormon religion to allow blacks into the priesthood and again talking about seeing bodies coming back from Iraq.
"I have five boys of my own. I imagine what it would be like to lose a son."
It might be why this week he began running an ad in New Hampshire, recounting his role in the search for a colleague's 14-year-old daughter who went missing in New York in 1996.
But Goldford issues a warning to both Romney and Clinton, who are now trying to prove their authenticity with ads.
"It only works if it doesn't look obvious," he said
There's a virtue for all of us to emulate.
Me too. I’m with Fred!
Did he say that he thinks he might be able to win the general election?
Did you believe him?
The socks MUST BE 100% cotton, or at least be labeled as verry verry soft, though made entirely of itchy-scratchy polyester.
This entire article make me wanna barf.
The "perception or appearance of authenticity" is ipso facto ARTIFICIAL.
Go Fred Go
HEEHAW, HEEHAW
First, I must say that of the choices available, I prefer Fred Thompson.
But...
I also remember what Dave Schippers said in his book “Sellout: The Inside Story About President Clinton’s Impeachment” about Thompson:
“Meanwhile , through all of this, Fred Thompson was sitting in the corner with his head down. To my recollection, he didn’t open his mouth.” (page 18).
“On our side were Rogan, Hutchinson, Bryant, and Hyde. On their side: Domenici, Stevens, Thompson...” (page 21)
So I gather that Fred Thompson was against convicting Bill Clinton of anything and thus did nothing to help the Republican cause in the Senate.
Implies the current President is NOT the 'real deal.'
Very true...
I tend to agree with you but dang! You are pushing the definition of idiot to new heights.
Duncan Hunter is the real deal. I suppose we’ll see if this article pans out.
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According to Intrade, the winner of the December 12th GOP debate was... Duncan Hunter.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1938773/posts
Billy Carter signed up to be their spokesperson...
Yep. I don’t think he can win, but I think he thinks he can.
Yikes!!!!
Absolute lie. Like the rest of the DC Old Boy's club. McCain wanted to Americanize the war and send in 250,000 US troops.
The surge Strategy is wholly the product of Don Rumsfeild unwavering support for the Iraqis and Gen Petrau's genius. Rummy's only mistake was to underestimate how long it would take to actually get the Iraq forces up to speed. McCain did NOTHING but squeal like a stuck pig for the Leftist Media.
The success of the "Surge" is a refutation the McCain doctrine.
Which tells us the rabid Bush haters here at FR have NO clue what they are talking about.
Curious what you 100%er Freeper purists around here with your hysteric ignorant screaming about dogmatic purity would of said about a President who signed 6 tax hikes? Signed a real Illegals Amnesty? Appointed a liberal to the Supreme Court? Doubled Federal Spending in 8 years? Spent Record Deficits? Ran away from a Muslim Terrorist threat? Played diplomatic footsie with Iran’s mullahs?
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That President was Ronald Reagan. So not even the greatest President of the 20th Century could measure up to standard being demanded by the by you purist bigots
Nothing in life is ever perfect. Adult minds accept that and fight like heck to see as much as possible of what they want done gets done. Childish minds, and certain pseudo Conservative talking heads, whine hysterically because their political glass is only 70% full.
That’d be nice, if I had any confidence in the American electorate’s ability to recognize authenticity consistently when they saw it. Given the success of Team Clinton in the Nineties, I have very grave doubts about that ability.
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That President was Ronald Reagan. So not even the greatest President of the 20th Century could measure up to standard being demanded by the by today's purist political bigots.
Nothing in life is ever perfect. Adult minds accept that and fight like heck to see as much as possible of what they want done gets done. Childish minds, and certain pseudo Conservative talking heads, whine hysterically because their political glass is only 70% full.
One thing we all overlook is that Thompson and everyone else in the Senate who was familiar with the consequences of an impeachment all knew that if Clinton were removed from office, the man who would have replaced him would have been Al Gore.
Given that choice, I think I might have decided myself that nothing that Clinton did was bad enough to justify turning the helm of this nation over to Al Gore.
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