On Likeability and the Clinton Derangement Syndrome of Chris Matthews
04 December 2007 1:00 pm by Taylor Marsh
On Likeability and the Clinton Derangement Syndrome
of Chris Matthews
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| Likeability, it’s worked out so well before. |
We may not have to worry much about Mike Huckabee, minus the glowing press drooling, because in the end he may be too ethical for Republicans. But at least Huck has that other critical component to be president.
Once again, Matthews and some others in the media and beyond are stumbling
all over the Who would you rather have a beer with? – Likability quotient
of the ‘08 primary season. Yesterday on “Hardball”, Matthews could
hardly contain himself talking about Clinton’s likeability “problem.”
He threw in poll saying that Clinton’s “ego-driven” candidacy is also
not good news, according to some body expert pin up boy who obviously doesn’t
know politics from a knitting contest, but certainly has his sexism down.
Say it with me: Tough men are leaders. Tough women are b——.
Driven
men are successful. Driven women are egotists.
Got that?
MATTHEWS: We‘re back with the panel. According to the new “Des Moines Register” poll that juts came out right now, Hillary Clinton is seen as the most ego driven of all the Democratic candidates, way ahead of everyone else. When asked who is the most likable, Barack Obama won, on the most likable. You‘ve got Barack up there. Hillary—look at these numbers, 52 percent of Iowa Democrats think that she is ego driven, and 14 percent like her. Linda Douglass, 52 — I mean it‘s incredible. They think she is an ego maniac and only one in seven like her. … ..
After all, choosing our presidents through likeability and beer guzzling points
has been so good for this country. Take Kerry
v. Bush.
By narrow margins Bush came out better on believability, likability and toughness.
… .. And by a 48 percent to 41 percent margin, debate watchers said Bush
was more likable.Of those polled, 50 percent said Bush was more believable and 45 percent
said they were more likely to believe Kerry.
Who wouldn’t trade Bush for Kerry today?
We got the same
drivel with Gore.
Mr. Bush was seen as a more likable candidate than Vice President Gore in
the disputed election of 2000. Mr. Bush had an even greater edge on that attribute
in a 2004 election that was fought on terrain that in many respects favored
Senator Kerry.
Ibid above.
So by all means let’s choose the most likable candidate. Or maybe
not.
“I think that what voters want in a candidate depends on the voter’s
verdict on the president in office” and the “state of the nation,”
the director of the Pew Research Center, Andrew Kohut, wrote in an e-mail.
“In this case, people see a failure of leadership in the Bush years,
and that’s why strong leadership image may be trumping ‘likeability.’”
Besides, who says Clinton isn’t likeable? This is according to Chris Matthews? Yeah, I’ll take that to the bank.
