Americans want 'real deal' for next president

TheStar.com ^ | December 22, 2007 | Tim Harper

[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.

-SNIP-

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

MORE

[Mikey_1962]

If Bush isn’t the real thing I don’t know what is...

[pepperhead]

The next American president will have to be – or perceived by voters to be – the real deal.

Real Deal? Evander Holyfield should run then.......

[glmjr]

Minute Men of America
 Stand Up

 

 

 

I always thought your group stood against illegal immigration.  I also thought  the Minute Men wanted a permanent security fence along our southern border.  It is now clear to me that your leaders are either asleep or have given up on the cause.

"When I am president, I will build a fence."

 

Did you know .....Fred Thompson in a speech in Iowa on the 21st. of Dec. declared  "When I am president, I will build a fence."  He went further on to say...Amnesty and illegal immigration, he said, are not healthy for the U.S. or Mexico. "We need to be a nation of high fences and wide gates."

Is this not what we want?
Where are our leaders?
Why aren't there Minute Men  TV spots right now endorsing and supporting Fred Thompson?  

If we fail to do so we may have a Democrat or a liberal Republican elected, who will then push an amnesty bill through congress. 

Call your Minute Men Headquarters today and give them your opinion.

 

[glmjr]

I would rather vote for a Democrat than that....more government involvment...amnesty pushing... foreign affairs ignorant...Bush bashing....can't remember what he said yesterday....high taxing....parole giving...more gun control.......credential lying.....let our kids have meth........preacher hick from Arkansas. That's about it (sure I missed something)

NRA of America
 Stand Up Now

 

I always thought your group stood for the 2nd. Ammendment.  I also thought  the NRA wanted to elect politicians supporting gun ownership.   What's your problem?

"My idea of gun control is a good, steady aim."

 

Did you know on Dec. 21st. in a speech in Iowa Fred Thompson said:

When someone asked about what the government could do about AK-47s and the Westroads Mall shooting, Thompson said that assault weapons are not the problem, it is the people using them inappropriately; and it is not the government's place to remove guns from rightful citizens.

"Look at those church shootings," he said, in reference to the Colorado Springs, Colo., shootings that killed five and wounded five on Dec. 9. "That armed volunteer saved countless lives."

Thompson added, "My idea of gun control is a good, steady aim."

Is this not what we want?
Where are our leaders?
Why doesn't the NRA have TV spots right now endorsing and supporting Fred Thompson?  

If we fail to do so we may have a Democrat or a liberal Republican elected, who will then push to limit or eliminate private gun ownership.

Freepers Call your NRA Headquarters today and give them your opinion.

 

[glmjr]

I would rather vote for a Democrat than that....more government involvment...amnesty pushing... foreign affairs ignorant...Bush bashing....can't remember what he said yesterday....high taxing....parole giving...more gun control.......credential lying.....let our kids have meth........preacher hick from Arkansas. That's about it (sure I missed something)

NRA of America
 Stand Up Now

 

I always thought your group stood for the 2nd. Ammendment.  I also thought  the NRA wanted to elect politicians supporting gun ownership.   What's your problem?

"My idea of gun control is a good, steady aim."

 

Did you know on Dec. 21st. in a speech in Iowa Fred Thompson said:

When someone asked about what the government could do about AK-47s and the Westroads Mall shooting, Thompson said that assault weapons are not the problem, it is the people using them inappropriately; and it is not the government's place to remove guns from rightful citizens.

"Look at those church shootings," he said, in reference to the Colorado Springs, Colo., shootings that killed five and wounded five on Dec. 9. "That armed volunteer saved countless lives."

Thompson added, "My idea of gun control is a good, steady aim."

Is this not what we want?
Where are our leaders?
Why doesn't the NRA have TV spots right now endorsing and supporting Fred Thompson?  

If we fail to do so we may have a Democrat or a liberal Republican elected, who will then push to limit or eliminate private gun ownership.

Freepers Call your NRA Headquarters today and give them your opinion.

 

[skinkinthegrass]

FRed Ping?

[UCANSEE2]

I Thank McCain for his service in the military.

But, after he got into politics, after the Vietnam War, IIRC, he went to Vietnam with Kerry for a ‘tour’ of their prisons, to assure us that the NV’s didn’t have any POW’s.

McCain, led by Kerry, ignored what little they did see, and knew about, and signed some documents proclaiming there were no POW/MIA’s left.

The video of Kerry presenting the signed document has McCain hanging his head in shame.

Those POW/MIA’s might consider McCain a traitor.

[TinaJeannes]

are u saying that people who work together should not talk with each other or agree with each other on anything , if they are not of the same party?
How many friends do you have ? and before you become friends with them, do you ask them what political party they support? what church they go to etc etc ?

[TinaJeannes]

Huckabee isnt what we need at this time . He doesnt have the experience nor the knowledge of history to deal with problems we face today

[TinaJeannes]

Bullcrap he got on rummy and bush big time over thier handling of this war

[Dagnabitt]

Bitter old loon McCain conspiring with his fellow immigration leftists.

[jd792]

Its hard to be optimistic,while being a witness to the downfall of the republicrat party.I have been watching this party give in ,and give up ,for twenty years or more.The Democrap party has never been so vulnerable ,as they are now.They have absolutely no issues to win an election.But I don’t think the GOP wants to win ,I believe as long as the congress stays equally divided, no matter who is in charge,the charade’s will continue..Has the GOP started any campaign against the global warming hoax? Has the GOP had any voice in drilling for oil,building nukes,using coal?Has the GOP exposed the NEA on this fraud called education?Where is the GOP on illegal immigration?And the list goes on.Oh,I forgot,these issues are conservative issues ,they wouldn’t’t want to make the RINOS feel not welcome would they .I’m sorry it slipped my mind,they bring LOTS of money and you can still hang the GOP banner on them and celebrate a victory.Have you noticed ,the more conservatives we get in the media the more the GOP lays down.Look how far we have come in twenty years.Rush was the only voice .Now with 24/7 access to a conservative somewhere,we are still statistically tied?Somebody help me out here..Is the GOP addicted to second place?Talk about disconnected, go to a local county party meeting ,around here its all local,they haven’t a clue about the national scene.Or state scene for that matter.We voted out Dewine while the state and county party endorsed him.Go figure.Ill be happy to send a dime to an individual candidate but not to a bipartisan GOP/RNC

[EternalVigilance]

Now what the F was that?

The Rove legacy.