...widely believed...some have thought...
Still pretty vague.
I am not of the school that believes that pom-poms only are effective in getting a political leader to do what he was elected to do.
Pom-poms are always nice but, of course, it is sometimes necessary to give a leader time and means to work out what you call "Herculean tasks".
What is logically inconsistent? Reagan got forced to take on Poppy Bush and Poppy almost succeeded in wiping him out early on—but he was on his re-election ticket.