Tuesday, January 8, 2008

I want a return to honest politics

I recently read an article from The New Yorker titled Sparring Partners and the last paragraph struck a cord for me. It got me thinking about the public discourse offered to us by Presidential candidates.

[Obama] answered, “I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance”—he paused—“involving civilians.” He paused again. “Let me scratch that,” he added. “There’s been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That’s not on the table.”
Let me scratch that, indeed. The sentence you are reading has been tweaked a half-dozen times. But in an age of omnipresent microphones, instant transcripts, cell-phone videos, and merciless cable-TV hosts, politicians have no such luxury. When they open their mouths, the first draft is the final. Off the cuff is engraved in granite.


Many consider Obama to be naive because he answered a question off-the-cuff instead of using pre-written rhetoric. I appreciate Obama's off-the-cuff remarks though. If he had done his homework and already had a stance on the question, it would have made him look all the more genuine.
I want a candidate that's not afraid to answer any question, say what's on his mind, and have no apologies later. I want a candidate who isn't afraid to walk into a room where the questions are spontaneous. I want a return to the days when, for better or worse, candidates were asked honest questions from normal citizens who hadn't been pre-selected by the candidates campaign committees.
I want a candidate that has done his homework and has a stance on ALL the important issues. Plans for his first few months in office? Aspirations are also important. What kind of goals does the candidate have besides their media-prescribed talking points?
Clinton is casting Obama's response about diplomacy with leaders of hostile countries as a rookie mistake, but I think it was a refreshing answer. But I want a candidate to take the next step and meet with diplomats. If a presidential candidate could secure peace, or even open a dialogue about peace, before he even walked into the Oval Office, he would most likely secure my vote.


1 comment:

Clytemnestra said...

OT-

Thank you for your comments on my blog. I re-wrote the posting.