Bill Clinton Harming His Image As He Fights For Hillary Clinton

I have often disagreed with the more centrist and moderate positions that President Clinton took while serving in the Oval Office.   Apart from those differences I always knew Bill Clinton to be an expert politician with well-honed skills for speaking to the needs and desires of the electorate.  Even members of the GOP had to admit he was a master politician. 

And then came 2008.

What has happened to the former President is hard to say.  But the facts are clear.  He has proved to be race baiting when emphatically stating to his audiences made up of mostly white people, that they are somehow different from those that vote for his wife, Hillary Clinton.

“She’s in it for you and she’s in it because of you. People like you have voted for her in every single state in the country.” People like you. The phrase hung in the air and the room quieted. Clinton didn’t say what the people who voted for Obama were like, but the suggestion was that they were somehow different.

Bill Clinton has often been a hindrance to the campaign team of Hillary Clinton and his missteps, which are clumsy and more noticeable given his true abilities, makes the headlines. 

His role has come at a cost — to morale among some campaign staff, relations inside the Democratic Party and with African-American leaders, and in the view of some, his own legacy. He has lost considerable credibility with many party leaders, who, as “superdelegates” to the party convention, will be crucial in determining who is the Democratic presidential nominee.

At several moments in the campaign, Mr. Clinton has raised hackles with offhand remarks. He offended some African-Americans when he compared Sen. Obama’s eventual victory in the South Carolina primary to Jesse Jackson’s victory there 20 years earlier. Some black leaders considered that a slight against Sen. Obama’s success.

A few weeks ago, he tried to explain away Sen. Clinton’s remarks about a trip to Bosnia, in which she mistakenly said she faced sniper fire when getting off a plane. Instead of clarifying the matter, Mr. Clinton bungled his explanation of how his wife had made the slip, putting renewed attention on an issue the campaign had wanted to put behind it.

When Bill Clinton makes blunders about race, and then pretends not to know that he has stepped over the line, it is then that it is most obvious that winning at all costs has taken a toll on the long-term image for the former President.  And as others note there is a price to be paid.

“I mean, who ‘played the race card’ on President Clinton?”  House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C Clyburn said, referring to comments made in an interview Clinton gave to WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and later denied making. “What does he mean by that unless he is trying to send some kind of signal on race?”

Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American in Congress, has remained neutral throughout this contest, but he has continually expressed concern about the tactics of the Clinton campaign.

“I am concerned … that the conduct of this campaign could very well make the nomination not worth having,” Clyburn told Fox. ““Our party is much bigger than Bill Clinton. It is much bigger than Sens. Clinton or Obama. It is a party that is here to serve the American people. … And I don’t want to see us conduct a campaign in such a way that it does irreparable harm to our being able to do that. When this campaign is over, if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, she cannot get elected president if 25 to 30 percent of black people vote for McCain. She is going to have … to have that same 92 percent of black people that Obama [has] now. And if [Obama] is the nominee, he is going to need her help and her husband’s help getting white voters that he is not now getting. And I don’t see how you can go back to these people and get them to vote for the nominee if you have done all these things and said all of these things about him during the campaign … because you are not going to be able to reverse field in the middle of general election.”

 

 

Technorati Tags: JimClyburn, BillClinton, HillaryClinton, Election08, Democrats, BarackObama, Racism, TheNewYorker, ABC

What Would Bill Clinton Do Back In The White House?

Let me say that I think Bill Clinton is a masterful politician and communicator.  I miss that greatly in the current holder of the Oval Office.  Having said that, I think Bill Clinton  was tone deaf in South Carolina several weeks ago, and hurt Hillary Clinton far more than he helped her in that state.  But I think his ability to reason and formulate policy is nothing short of remarkable, and after the last seven years everyone understands the necessity of having a bright and keen mind in the White House.  We have suffered greatly without it.

But with all great leaders (and over-sized egos) there are aspects to their characters that gets plenty of attention, often in a humorous way.  Bill Clinton is no different, as we all know.

Walt Handelsman touches the sentiment that many Americans feel when he made the following animated political cartoon spoofing Bill Clinton.

But as we know all too well, our nation never suffered the loss of roughly 4,000 men and women from Bill Clinton’s mistake.  President Bush will never be able to say that.

Technorati Tags: PresidentClinton, BillClinton, WaltHandelsman, PoliticalCartoon, IraqWar,

President Bush Drowning Nation In Record-Making Red Ink

President Clinton left office with a $559 billion surplus.  That is important to remember as you read this story.

The following will shock you only if you have not been watching the Bush White House with any degree of scrutiny over the past seven years.  For all the spin and blather that runs from the Bush Administration, there is only disaster and chaos to show for their efforts at governing.

The entire world understands the carelessness with which President Bush has handled foreign affairs.  Nothing could be worse than that.   Right?

Wrong.

President Bush introduced a $3.1 trillion budget on Monday that supports sizable increases in military spending to fight the war on terrorism and protects his signature tax cuts.

The spending proposal, which shows the government spending $3 trillion in a 12-month period for the first time in history, squeezes most of government outside of national security, and also seeks $196 billion in savings over the next five years in the government’s giant health care programs — Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor.

Even with those savings, Bush projects that the deficits, which had been declining, will soar to near-record levels, hitting $410 billion this year and $407 billion in 2009. The all-time high deficit in dollar terms was $413 billion in 2004.

Read the full CNN story here.

How ironic the Republican Party touts their fiscal conservatism, and ability to better manage the nation’s economy, as a selling point in the 2008 elections.

Technorati Tags: CNN, Economy, PresidentBush, BillClinton

The Presidential Campaigns In America Tonight

There is an excitement in the air over the race for the White House that is much different than those of the past.  I do not recall in my lifetime the intensity and frantic nature that seems to grip these campaigns.  While there has always been plenty of hyper-activity on all sides every four years in these races, this year things are notched up higher.  Partly this is due to the open race for both political parties.  There is no clear heir for either the Republicans or the Democrats.  Add the fact that the first woman, black, or Mormon has a chance to be nominated in a very early and condensed nominating cycle, and one can understand the hectic nature of the closing weeks of 2007.

I am watching daily to see how the maneuvering and positioning of the various candidates stack up, knowing that all are mindful that January 3rd is approaching quickly.  So here is what I think of the candidates and races as of the time I write this post.  A day is a lifetime in politics, goes the saying.  Now an hour is a lifetime for the candidates.

I find Barack Obama a very intelligent and hopeful candidate.  I think he has really grown as a speaker and White House hopeful.  But I think he will face what so many ‘dream candidates’ eventually confront.  The youthful faces that talk of new beginnings in Washington have too few voters that slog through the snow to get to a caucus, or take time to vote in a primary.  The college faces that seem eager today find many things more important to do on primary day. And I fear that there is an ugly underlying layer of bigotry that will show itself sooner or later in the nominating process.  Let us not forget the hopeful polls of Tennessee U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford, Jr in 2006, and then the victory of his Republican opponent.  There is still much work to do in bridging the relations between the races in America.

Hillary Clinton has constructed a campaign that is mighty impressive.  From staffing to funds she is set for a national race.  She can place second in Iowa, and even do so again in New Hampshire (though I am not predicting that) and still win the nomination for all practical purposes on February 5th.  Though some of her campaign tactics are childlike and rather undignified (such as the kindergarten remark and drug charge remarks) she is placing herself in the middle of the national dialogue on the big issues that will suit her well should she win the nomination.  And I think she will ultimately prevail and be the nominee.   From here to November the biggest issue for her will be what to do about Bill Clinton.  I admire the man for his intelligence, but his ego needs an island to stay on for the next year.  I love to hear him talk on a typical day, but for Hillary’s sake would someone shut the man up!  His Charlie Rose interview was perplexing to say the least!

John Edwards has my vote and support.  He speaks what my heart says about our foreign policy, and the role of government in shaping a society that works for the greater good, as opposed to serving the rich and well to do.  I admire politicians who admit mistakes, and the vote he cast in favor of the Iraq War was a dreadful one.  But over the years he has addressed to my satisfaction his regret over the vote, and outlined a path to restoring a sound international policy.  While I think it possible Edwards can actually win in Iowa with the strong support of union members, I think he will do less well in New Hampshire at the hands of the independent voters.  Sadly, I do not think his campaign will last longer than the South Carolina primary.

Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are locked in a GOP duel that is bringing out the worst in both campaigns.  I find their races for president to be more a contest between who is the most religious, and closer to God.  That lack of respect for the separation of church and state troubles me.  And I strongly suspect that I am not alone.  It is because of this that Fred Thompson in Iowa has a fighting chance to make headlines on January 3rd.  Though he is a lackluster campaigner, the voters may want a mature face to counter the antics of the self-righteous ones.

John McCain has one shot to reclaim his position in the GOP.  That is in New Hampshire.  If he can win a convincing number of voters to his campaign he can march onwards and still be the nominee in 2008.  I still think he has the greatest chance with the independents of New Hampshire even though they are very anti-war.  They may hate the Iraq War, but I suspect they hate the religious war that some wage for the White House even more.  (However if Obama wins in Iowa the independents of the Granite State may wish to play a role in the Democratic contest, and that will hurt McCain’s chances in my estimation.)

When the story is written on Rudy Giuliani I think many will marvel at how he turned so many voters against him after having so many national advantages when he first announced for the White House.  He made some very serious errors in judgment, and failed to own up to them.  That lack of honesty with the voters will be seen as one of his major blunders.

And then there is Alan Keyes……..what a little twig.

Technorati Tags: Election08, JohnEdwards, BarackObama, FredThompson, HillaryClinton, MittRomney, MikeHuckabee, JohnMcCain, RudyGiuliani, BillClinton

CNN Reports War Costs Could Total $1.6 Trillion!!

There is a price tag for the Iraq war that should shock every American.  CNN reports that the war effort is placing a drain on our economy, and forcing us to live in red ink.  Just think if this had been President Clinton’s war…can you image how the GOP would howl.  More on that in a moment, but first read about the price tag you are paying for this war.

The total economic impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated at $1.6 trillion by 2009, a congressional committee said in a report released Tuesday.

That is nearly double the $804 billion in direct war costs the White House requested so far from Congress, the Joint Economic Committee said.

The committee estimated $1.3 trillion in war costs by the end of 2008 for Iraq, and the remainder for Afghanistan.

The total war costs could grow to $3.5 trillion by 2017, the committee estimated.

The higher total economic impact comes from, among other things, the cost of borrowing money to pay for the war, lost productivity, higher oil prices and the cost of health care for veterans, the committee said.

The committee calculated the average cost of both wars for a family of four would be $20,900 from 2002 to 2008. The cost for a family of four would go up to $46,400 from 2002 to 2017.

Had Bill Clinton orchestrated this war would all the current war talk by the GOP be supportive of him?  Would all these conservative talk show hosts and crazy bloggers on the right be sending up prayers of support for Bill Clinton as he waged his war?  I mean if the war is just as the GOP claims, and their rhetoric is correct that the terrorists are just waiting to leave Iraq to travel to Chicago if we were to pull our troops out, then the GOP would need to support Clinton’s war. Yeah, right!  The GOP would storm the White House with anger if this same Iraq War scenario had played out with a Democrat in the White House.

Every American should be mad as hell what President Bush has done to our nation.

Technorati Tags: CNN, IraqWar, CostOfWar, BillClinton, PresidentBush

Exposing GOP Hypocrisy, Again

Hypocrisy among the GOP is the topic today.  I found the MoveOn ad flap in the New York Times to be just a big pile of rubbish.  MoveOn was right!  The GOP members of Congress went wild eyed in their theatrical response to the ad.  The chest thumpers on FAUX News did all but draw blood as they foamed at the mouths.

But I think the following puts it all into perspective.

Technorati Tags: GOP, Hypocrisy, MoveOn, NewYorkTimes, IraqWar, <a rel=”tag” Technorati Tags: BillClinton

It Is Time To Stand With President Bush

HEAR ME OUT ON THIS!

A side of President Bush emerged on Tuesday that America has not seen before.  It was a robust and energized President telling his right wing soul mates to shut the hell up.  He used more muted language than that of course, but the message conveyed the same end result.  The issue that has galvanized the conservatives of his party is immigration.  It was these same people that helped elect Bush, but now have turned their back on the 43rd President.  And Bush is fighting back.  Well, as best he can after being in bed all these years with the conservative talk show hosts, bloggers, and politicians.

Part of the problem Bush now faces is the plight any Administration would face when trying to shape vital public policy at a time of highly divided and contentious national politics.  President Clinton faced the same type of undermining of policy hopes during the health care debate.  The forces of destruction won then, and the plight of America’s uninsured remain a source of national shame yet today.  The same long-term effects for our nation will occur if the loud echo chamber created by conservatives prevails, and as a result the latest immigration bill is killed.

The problem for Bush, even as he railed against the conservatives on Tuesday, is that he has no one he can turn to for support, or cover.  He has been cozy with the conservatives, allowing them to run the show for the past six years.  That in large part undermined his ability to foster a larger governing coalition.  Karl Rove is in large part responsible for this.  President Bush has alienated and angered Democrats at every turn.  He lied to the nation about the Iraq War, finds no desire to change war policy, and therefore finds no refuge among the electorate.  As a result his poll numbers are dismal.  Therefore, the Bush White House is basically fighting alone.

And that is not good for the country.

I have huge, and often irreconcilable differences with the way Bush misled the nation during his years in the White House.  I have been highly critical of his tenure as President.  But I also firmly understand why this country needs a leader with political leverage. In fact, that has been one of my deep regrets over the way Bush lied about the war.  He undermined his leadership authority with a war of choice.

We need a strong President now with the ability to pull a consensus immigration bill through Congress, and sign it into law in the Oval Office.  But the political chasm that exists in our country, and the state of the Presidency today will most likely mean that this immigration bill is never to be passed.  Unless some of us decide that good immigration policy should trump loud politics.

It should concern us all, both Democrats and Republicans that national policy requiring Congress’s action will wither and die.  It should madden us that conservatives can hijack public policy through their manipulation of the airwaves, and the layers of echo that they produce daily across the country.

I know I should be amused as a liberal to see the conservative political attacks that Bush loved to use these past six years against the Democrats, now being used against him.  Truth is I am not amused.  I enjoy political theatre more than most, but I also have a deep appreciation for the art of policy making.  And right now for a variety of reasons a strong and coherent immigration bill needs to become the law of the land.  And when policy proposals are destroyed, as the conservatives are now doing, I think we all need to make a statement about the direction of the country.  And so on the immigration proposal I stand with President Bush, and ask that you do the same.

This is much more important than my political differences with President Bush. It is more important than your political differences with President Bush.  This is about the heart and soul of how our government should operate, the way Congress should be allowed to craft legislation, and the way our country should deal with pressing national needs.

I know that this will produce snickers and sneers from some.  To them I reply that I still believe what my grade school civics book taught me.  Shouldn’t we all feel the same?

Technorati Tags: Immigration, PresidentBush

What If Iraq Was Bill Clinton’s War?

As news reports of the death of nine more U.S. troops hit the airwaves, and a political war-funding bill is advancing from the Democratic Congress to the President, one has to wonder where we go from here. 

The White House is slowly, but surely, moving the date for an evaluation of ‘the surge’ later into the fall so to have as much leverage as they can over the course of events.  Congressional politicians seem hamstrung between the grassroots anger over the war, and the silly notion that to get tough over funding the war is somehow a slap in the face of the troops.  I am sure the troops would love a cut in funding the war so they could get back to the states and out of the Iraq civil war.

But it is the GOP Congressional Republicans, and their followers around the nation, that have long mystified me.  In their hearts they know this war is dangerous for the long-term foreign policy goals of the United States.  They know the war was the result of flawed Intel, and even lies told by high officials to further the neo-conservative plans of the Bush White House.  And yet they follow with blind loyalty the desires of President Bush.  Why? 

The ‘why’ leads me to my final thought. 

Had Bill Clinton orchestrated this war would all the current war talk by the GOP be supportive of him?  Would all these conservative talk show hosts and crazy bloggers on the right be sending up prayers of support for Bill Clinton as he waged his war?  I mean if the war is just as the GOP claims, and their rhetoric is correct that the terrorists are just waiting to leave Iraq to travel to Chicago if we were to pull our troops out, then the GOP would need to support Clinton’s war. Yeah, right!  The GOP would storm the White House with anger if this same Iraq War scenario had played out with a Democrat in the White House.

This Republican war is all about politics!  The GOP has played fast and reckless with the lives of American soldiers.  Today we are closing in on 3,500 dead American soldiers. So why is it so scary for the Democrats to stand up and be bold on behalf of the American voters who cast a ballot to end the war last November?   Republicans have always been better at looking past the voters by disregarding them, and following their own self-serving path.  American history proves this time and again.  Democrats need to be just as bold and follow the wishes of the electorate. 

End this war.

Technorati Tags: Congress, Democrats, IraqWar, BillClinton, PresidentBush

GOP Wants Us To Hush Over Their Private Lives

There is a new way that Republicans hope to campaign this election cycle.  After the push to destroy moderate Democrat Bill Clinton, and muddy every liberal in America with “family issues” over the past 15 years,  the GOP has come up with an idea.

“People’s family difficulties should be kept private as much as possible.”

That was a direct quote from John McCain who is seeking the Republican nomination.  He is hoping that those conservatives who have an issue over divorce might not notice he is on wife number two, or that he pledged his undying faithfulness to his new bride one month after divorcing his first one.  (Yes the sanctity of heterosexual marriage is a remarkable thing to see in action.)

While I think that in principle a candidate’s personal life should not be a part of the tug and pull of getting votes, we all know that it is.  At times Mormon candidate Mitt Romney uses his ‘tax breaks’ to show he is a warm fuzzy family man, while implying that the absence of children around another candidate must mean that there is a scandal waiting to be discovered. 

Such is the case of Rudy Giuliani, who is on wife number three, (as of this writing) and asking for privacy as he deals with strained relationships within his family, including estrangement from his children.  How convenient for the GOP to put the limits now on what is now permissible to be covered by the media, and what should be walled off from public consumption.

The fact that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich admitted this week what we already knew; that he was having sex with a woman other than his wife while beating up President Clinton for his affair with an intern, only adds to the wonderful mix. 

You might ask where I am going with this post.  We are almost there.

All these flawed candidates are trying to inspire the conservative right wing to anoint them as the Republican nominee for the White House.  All but Romney understands that Southern conservatives are not going to let a Mormon into the Oval Office.  That is why there is a push from the other candidates to get the private issues of the table.  They know that in the end conservatives are going to be forced to take one for the team.

In the past we were tortured as a nation with the piousness (lunacy) of White House hopefuls Pat Robertson, and the wing nut rants of Alan Keyes.   We were told how liberals were destroying the nation with their lifestyle.  We were even told to think that liberals brought hurricanes to our shores, and played a part in 9/11.  (The 700 Club is, when all is said and done, a comedy show.)

So after all the horrendous accusations and sludge from conservatives about liberals the GOP now hopes that we take the high road and say that in principle private matters are separate from the issues that shape campaigns.  Well I am not in the mood to let the conservatives off the hook.  Liberals are always the ones to acquiesce to the larger good and principled idea.  I do not think we should allow the GOP to create a new playing field just because they have a slate of candidates that make Peyton Place look like the Flintstones.

Technorati Tags: GOP, JohnMcCain, RudyGiuliani, MittRomney, Liberals, Conservatives

How Will Hillary Clinton Turn On A Dime?

I have asked myself many times how Senator Clinton will square her record for the Iraq war with the electorate that is opposed to it?  How will Clinton pivot away from a conservative view that the war was justified, to a more correct view that the war was a foreign policy disaster without looking like just another politician now trying to gain favor with the voters? How can the New York Senator make any statement at this point in the Presidential sweepstakes without appearing to cave in to the liberal element of the Democratic Party that is so crucial to gaining the nomination?

At the outset let me say that if anyone can do this, Bill Clinton’s wife can.  If that sounds condescending then you are reading correctly what I intend to imply.  I have the utmost respect for the political prowess of Bill Clinton.  He is a smart, talented, dynamic, personable, and crafty (in the best sense of the word) politico, and we can all be proud of him and his skills.  The worst one can say about Bill Clinton is he had ’sex’ with an intern; a far cry from starting a war in the Middle East.  But Senator Clinton does not possess enough of the qualities that her husband does, and that should concern Democrats who are rushing to nominate her.  She may be smart and truly concerned with a raft of issues, but she lacks some of the essential skills needed to win a national election. 

The Clintons understand that something must be said soon about Hillary’s position on the Iraq war, and her vote for Bush’s failed policy.  Her desire to cast herself as tough during the past few years by supporting the war so as not to make others believe her a ‘weak woman’, has only made  her complicit in the disaster that is now raging in the Middle East.  She must honestly address the nation, and her fellow Democrats, about why she followed such a flawed policy for so long.

That is a tall order for any politician, even one with a national reputation such as Hillary’s.  But with Bill Clinton behind the scenes providing guidance I suspect one heck of a pivot is about to take place.  Senator Clinton has made a trip to the Middle East and one should assume that will be the ‘back drop’ for a national speech to be presented from a major university or other large venue.  She will use the words and phrases that are so ‘Clinton-like’ and try to sell her votes and views in a larger context in the war on terrorism.  That may sell in some quarters.

As for me, and many of my friends and contacts, there had better be lots more meat in her speech than some stale old GOP type language about fighting terrorists.  That crap no longer works.  A major…..MAJOR……flawed policy has resulted from those who supported President Bush and his desire to invade Iraq.  Senator Clinton was one of those politicians that wanted to look tough with her vote in 2002.  Now she looks needy as she prepares to pivot for the party’s nomination.

All eyes are watching.

Technorati Tags: HillaryClinton, IraqWar, 2008, PresidentialRace, Bush, BillClinton

2007 Must Usher In Mideast Peace Talks

If we have learned nothing else from the Middle East over the past six decades, we should at least understand that military solutions are not the answer to long simmering problems in that region of the world.  The only route to a real lessening of tensions is a step-by-step political process where all sides have the opportunity to engage others with ideas and proposals.  The first step in any such process is to actually start talking.  To accomplish that there needs to a powerful and evenhanded broker that will bring all sides to the table.

That broker had been, until the year 2000, the United States.  With our power and prestige, an overall balanced approach to resolving the need for a Palestinian homeland, and powerful incentives to move talks in a progressive direction, the US had been the force that helped to produce results. The last major effort by the US towards peace between Israel and Palestinians however, took place in the last year of President Bill Clinton’s time in the Oval Office.  When President Bush took power the peace efforts were placed on the back burner as if a cooling off period would somehow benefit the tinderbox of the world. 

The result of not talking between the various sides in the Middle East, or our failure to dialogue with our enemies in the region, has produced complete instability.  The conflict that raged this year in southern Lebanon, or the complete breakdown of Iraqi society due to our invasion, is more than enough proof that festering problems not resolved through the political process will spiral out of control when a military ’solution’ is added to the mix.  At the point when weapons are used the anger and resentment only is increased and each side becomes more polarized and separated from the other side.

What I have just written is all Diplomacy 101, yet there seems to be many in the Bush Administration that have not yet come to understand the need for real talks between Israel and the Palestinians, or between the United States and nations such as Iran and Syria. 

The main players in the Middle East have such a long and tortured past that they themselves cannot start talks with their sworn enemies.  The United States must seriously and quickly pick up the few shreds of credibility we have left after what President Bush has done to the region, and leverage it for peaceful resolutions of the regional problems.  Both Israel and the Palestinians need us to bring them to the table. Israel gets nervous when forced to talk but we must not allow the tail to wag the dog any more as the stakes are too high for our interests.

For instance there is now the small opening between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians that should be seized on as an opening for talks. There has been an agenda left undone, commitments made and not honored that can be discussed between each side.

The release this week of over $100 million dollars of Palestinian funds by Israel, and other overtures recently should be viewed in a larger context and marshaled towards talks between the sides.  At the same time the talks could be used to stop aggression from both sides, the latest being the building of another illegal settlement on the West Bank by Israel.

This coming year the crises in the Middle East demands the Bush Administration put aside their pettiness and arrogance and start serious diplomatic talks.  2007 needs to be the year for a serious diplomatic effort in the Middle East.  Come on, Condi, earn your pay.

Technorati Tags: MiddleEast, Bush, Israel, Palestinian, Palestine, BillClinton

Bush Lacks Curiosity

It became apparent to me in 2000 when George Bush was seeking the Republican Party nomination that the primary reason I did not find him suitable for the White House was not because of our political differences.  After all, I find Senators Lugar, McCain, and Graham very smart, and all capable of national leadership, though I may disagree politically with them on various issues.  The main problem I had with Bush in 2000 is the same reason I find him frustrating yet today.  He lacks curiosity.

This may seem trivial to many, but I would argue it is central to the failure of his leadership ability, and is reflected in his policy decisions, so many of which have turned sour.

It was noticed this week while traveling in Southeast Asia that Bush failed to meet and greet real people.  His attempt to ‘meet’ them while traveling in a motorcade with tinted windows, waving at them as he sailed through the streets, is not the way to better understand people in another country.  It is only when you press the flesh and talk with groups at a historic site or landmark that one can begin to view the world from other perspectives.  A trip of this type by a President should not just be a PR project for the blue suits back in the White House.  A visit by a President should be a real vehicle where we reach out to the world.  Bush has never understood that concept.  On the other hand, both JFK and President Bill Clinton did.

While in Vietnam Bush missed any true local flavor as he darted and dashed, as is his custom, more intent on leaving than on learning.  As President of the United States he could have set a very much different schedule to accommodate a normal healthy curiosity.  After all this was his first time to Vietnam.  Instead, Bush left his desire to broaden his understandings of another culture behind him.  On Saturday he had only one nonofficial event that lasted 15 minutes, with almost no Vietnamese to interact with.  How could anyone visit a country they had never seen before and not wish to visit the places that history books tell us so much about?

This style of traveling is what everyone expects of Bush.  Yesterday it was again reported that while in Russia on a seperate trip he spent under 20 minutes at the treasures of Red Square.  I think this type of behavior is a show of disdain for much of the world, and a serious lack of intellectual heft that I consider an essential part of what creates a real national leader.

Through the natural follow-up on what we find curious, we also discover an education.  Things might be much different today had there been an ability by President Bush, prior to the war, to be curious what the mindset of the Iraqi people might be if a foreign army occupied their country.  Had Bush been more curious about the consequences of global warming, and the impact on people around the globe, he might have treated the Kyoto treaty with more seriousness.  Had Bush been more curious to meet real people in the various nations he has traveled as President and talk with them, hearing their voices and views, he might have had more ability to lead effectively as the leader of the free world.

I had candidate Bush pegged correctly in 2000 as one who possessed little curiosity.  His inability to understand world conditions then was shocking but I had hoped his subscription to The Economist was just being sent to the wrong address.  After watching him for six years as President we now all know the sad fact that there just isn’t a lot of depth and intellect to this man.  Most damning of all is the fact he has no desire or curiosity that can lift him out of his present stagnant position.

Technorati Tags: Bush, BillClinton, Leadership, Russia, Vietnam