All politicians, at any level in the political system, have a distinct gift for speaking. As a rule, the better a speaker a politician is, usually the better the politician. In the age of YouTube, Camera phones, and countless other ways the "common person" can record anything, or record a video of words not meant for public consumption, political figures are more on their guard, then ever before. The George Allen, "Macaca moment," while running for reelection in Virginia, in 2006, was a huge hit (if not his complete downfall) in his losing to Jim Webb. Other, "not for public consumption moments" have been had by Bill Clinton (on sexual issues), John McCain (anger), Senator Joseph Biden (race), and Barack Obama's recent comment (in San Francisco) on "Cling Gate." All of these slips of the tongue, were all caught on tape and/or video, in recent times, and a mere ten years ago none of these things would have been public.
In today's, "gotcha political games," the parsing of words is almost a profession. Focusing on any blog, radio interview, television spot, or debate the public pours over each word, of the potential political candidate, political person, or even a family member. After Pennsylvania and Hillary Clinton's 9-10% win, on the stump, she said, "I am very proud, that as of today, I have received more votes. By the people who have voted, than anyone else. I am very proud of that, because it is a very close race." Of course, Hillary Clinton, is still behind on the number of votes, to Barack Obama, on "official paper." However, if the Clinton campaign counts the votes in Michigan and Florida (which were rendered, null and void, by the DNC and DNC chair Howard Dean), she is technically ahead on voters pure votes. Therefore, when a person in Indiana, at a Clinton rally hears these words (if they are not 100% boned up, on the issue), they feel as though they are winning, and everyone wants to vote for a winner.
On the other side of things, the Obama campaign (with Barack himself, leading the way), came out with their own brand of word parsing. Obama said, "Nobody has complained more, about the press, questions at the debates, or how she has been treated, than Mrs. Clinton has and President Clinton. And so, we have been pretty tame, in terms of taking our shots, and um rolling with them." Of course, Hillary Clinton did have advertisements, in Pennsylvania, about Obama complaining about the debate questions and overall coverage, in the "City of Brotherly Love." Although, Obama was the person who went to San Francisco, making the comments about Pennsylvanians "clinging to religion, guns, etc..etc.." Obama, over the last year, has also enjoyed a completely free, roller coaster ride, from all of the press, until the last six weeks (when all other candidates were gone, from the playing field, the Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Obama's voting record and other things have come to light). Even Saturday Night Live, who bashed Senator Clinton early on, in the democratic campaign, reversed its role, making several skits, at Obama's expense (on how lopsided the coverage was, to Obama's advantage).
Charlie Crist, the Florida Governor, got into the act, as well. Even when he did not need to go out and push an agenda, with a parsing and double edge meaning of words, he did. On CNN, "The Situation Room" he was interviewed by Wolfe Blitzer. Blitzer asked him, "Which of the two democratic candidates is stronger candidate, Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama?" Crist replied, "Well, my presumption would be, that the stronger of the two democrats would be Senator Clinton. After all, she won in the democratic primary we had January 29th, did very well in the "Sunshine State" and was a record turn out in, both the republican and democratic primaries, so clearly I think she would be the more formidable, of the two, as it relates to Florida." Translation, Crist was, obviously, saying that Clinton and Obama need to keep on beating each other up, let the democratic primary go as long as it has to, and the Florida and Michigan people and votes should be counted. If Crist would have just came out, flatly saying that, he would have injected himself into democratic politics, put McCain into a strained position, and may have done himself damage (in possibly becoming the republican vice presidential running mate, for McCain).
The Bottom Line: People should say what they mean, and mean what they say. In addition, people should never assume and project, onto other people. I recently wrote a blog and a person responded to a context word, they were incorrect in the way I used that specific word (for future reference, "A teacher does not have to teach school. Rather, a teacher is anyone who has information, that is given to another person, and that person then uses and/or espouses it to their lives. A teacher is not always a professor, Carl). Politicians are on the bottom of the American people's shoes, in the way of approval, now. Depending on what poll a person was to look at, the President Bush has an approval rating of 27-31%, Congress has an approval rating of 17-21%, and 81% of Americans think the country is going int he wrong direction. Possibly, a way to "right the ship" and bring America back to the days of respectability, is for every link in the chain, in the political machine (pundits, media, analysts, and the candidates at all levels) is to speak in a solid and forthright way. This is a prayer that may go unanswered, but one can always pray and hope.
In today's, "gotcha political games," the parsing of words is almost a profession. Focusing on any blog, radio interview, television spot, or debate the public pours over each word, of the potential political candidate, political person, or even a family member. After Pennsylvania and Hillary Clinton's 9-10% win, on the stump, she said, "I am very proud, that as of today, I have received more votes. By the people who have voted, than anyone else. I am very proud of that, because it is a very close race." Of course, Hillary Clinton, is still behind on the number of votes, to Barack Obama, on "official paper." However, if the Clinton campaign counts the votes in Michigan and Florida (which were rendered, null and void, by the DNC and DNC chair Howard Dean), she is technically ahead on voters pure votes. Therefore, when a person in Indiana, at a Clinton rally hears these words (if they are not 100% boned up, on the issue), they feel as though they are winning, and everyone wants to vote for a winner.
On the other side of things, the Obama campaign (with Barack himself, leading the way), came out with their own brand of word parsing. Obama said, "Nobody has complained more, about the press, questions at the debates, or how she has been treated, than Mrs. Clinton has and President Clinton. And so, we have been pretty tame, in terms of taking our shots, and um rolling with them." Of course, Hillary Clinton did have advertisements, in Pennsylvania, about Obama complaining about the debate questions and overall coverage, in the "City of Brotherly Love." Although, Obama was the person who went to San Francisco, making the comments about Pennsylvanians "clinging to religion, guns, etc..etc.." Obama, over the last year, has also enjoyed a completely free, roller coaster ride, from all of the press, until the last six weeks (when all other candidates were gone, from the playing field, the Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Obama's voting record and other things have come to light). Even Saturday Night Live, who bashed Senator Clinton early on, in the democratic campaign, reversed its role, making several skits, at Obama's expense (on how lopsided the coverage was, to Obama's advantage).
Charlie Crist, the Florida Governor, got into the act, as well. Even when he did not need to go out and push an agenda, with a parsing and double edge meaning of words, he did. On CNN, "The Situation Room" he was interviewed by Wolfe Blitzer. Blitzer asked him, "Which of the two democratic candidates is stronger candidate, Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama?" Crist replied, "Well, my presumption would be, that the stronger of the two democrats would be Senator Clinton. After all, she won in the democratic primary we had January 29th, did very well in the "Sunshine State" and was a record turn out in, both the republican and democratic primaries, so clearly I think she would be the more formidable, of the two, as it relates to Florida." Translation, Crist was, obviously, saying that Clinton and Obama need to keep on beating each other up, let the democratic primary go as long as it has to, and the Florida and Michigan people and votes should be counted. If Crist would have just came out, flatly saying that, he would have injected himself into democratic politics, put McCain into a strained position, and may have done himself damage (in possibly becoming the republican vice presidential running mate, for McCain).
The Bottom Line: People should say what they mean, and mean what they say. In addition, people should never assume and project, onto other people. I recently wrote a blog and a person responded to a context word, they were incorrect in the way I used that specific word (for future reference, "A teacher does not have to teach school. Rather, a teacher is anyone who has information, that is given to another person, and that person then uses and/or espouses it to their lives. A teacher is not always a professor, Carl). Politicians are on the bottom of the American people's shoes, in the way of approval, now. Depending on what poll a person was to look at, the President Bush has an approval rating of 27-31%, Congress has an approval rating of 17-21%, and 81% of Americans think the country is going int he wrong direction. Possibly, a way to "right the ship" and bring America back to the days of respectability, is for every link in the chain, in the political machine (pundits, media, analysts, and the candidates at all levels) is to speak in a solid and forthright way. This is a prayer that may go unanswered, but one can always pray and hope.
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