George W Bush was all things television loved: personable, friendly. Despite a spotty track record of success at his early endeavors, he had the makings of a candidate, at least as far as Karl Rove was concerned, who when they first met described Bush as having “huge amounts of charisma, swagger, cowboy boots, flight jacket, wonderful smile, just charisma – you know, wow!” These are interesting attributes for the Presidency. On the radio I heard Rove declare Bush had “more charm than any human being should be allowed to have.” In the Republican primary Bush carries 43 states to John McCain’s 7 and Alan Keyes 0.
His opponent in the Presidential election, Al Gore, carried 50 states in his primary compared to Bill Bradley’s 0. I was pre-disposed to like Al Gore, who I had met in a small gathering of environmentalists in the 80s. You would never recognize that Al Gore as the man who ran for President. He was emotional, powerful, almost like I imagine a Southern preacher might be.
But in the campaign against Bush, Gore was frequently stiff and pedantic, apparently uncertain of how to present himself. It was interestingly reminiscent of the Kennedy-Nixon debates where, famously, the people that heard the debates on radio thought Nixon won, while those who watched Kennedy’s apparent ease and charm appeared convinced of his capacity to be President.
The similarities extend further: Nixon had vastly more experience than Kennedy. Gore, like Nixon, had been Vice-president. Candidates and their campaigns are now acutely aware of the power of television, of course, and they approach the debates defensively. Gore rated himself: “In the the first debate I was too hot, in the second I was too cold, and in the third I was just right.”
It was more than just Bush’s demeanor however. As a candidate he said some measured and reasonable things, for example, “If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us. If we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us….I would take the use of force very seriously. I would be guarded in my approach…(Al Gore) believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders.”AN AMERICAN STORY
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