Assessing Presidential Candidates: Qualifications and Competencies

[Q_Goest]

It's tough to find an honest politician. There was an article yesterday (on Yahoo?HuffPost?GoogleNews?) about how politicians never lie. They might exaggerate, prevaricate, be "factually challenged" or be prone to selectively omit pertinent facts, etc, but they never lie. The article was written after analysis of pieces in the "liberal media" in which politicians were never called "liars" even after being caught telling whoppers.

I'll see if I can find that link again.

I can see how they might not be called liars. Maybe just as you say, exaggerate things, etc... But I guess what strikes me is their motivation. What motivates people to become politicians or even upper level management at large corporations?

From my experience with the corporate world, it seems pretty rare to find people that are genuinely motivated by something other than power, and those people generally don't get too far - they wind up in middle management. I guess I see the CEO's and politicians of this world as being people who revel in the power of the position as opposed to being people that revel in the opportunity to improve society. I guess that's why I see politicians as being people who will say what they think it will take to gain the power of political influence, whether it be slight exaggeration or misleading statements that omit pertinent facts as you say.

Maybe politicians should be elected like PF has their annual awards... One day you wake up and your name is on a ballet and the next thing you know you've either been voted in or passed over.

 

[rootX]

You have to remember, these are all studies where people identify their own religion. There is a whole world of psychological pressures that affect one's answer. People don't always respond truthfully (whether consciously or subconsciously) under those pressures. Humans naturally adapt their self-image to fit situations.

Heck, I remember when I was just starting to talk, my parents told me I was Christian and I believed them. If you had asked me if I was Christian, I would have said "yes". I didn't even know who Jesus was or a single moral pillar of the religion. Sadly, there are people whose dedication in adulthood is no deeper than mine as a child.

The reason I'm bringing all this up, is that I don't think the US is as 'hardcore Christian' as that graph would suggest. There are a lot of people who identify as Christians who don't go to church, don't follow any Christian moral guidelines, and support separation of church and state.

How these people get on the national tv then? Also note that Perry is governor of Texas.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

How these people get on the national tv then? Also note that Perry is governor of Texas.

We were talking about the US, not Texas. :rofl:

Every President we've ever had proclaimed Christian beliefs. But most didn't create imaginary wars on religion, or use their faith as a primary sales tool. There are vast differences between the classic mainstream Christian, and what we see in politics today. The Bible belt [which includes Texas] has always been pretty extreme.

Note that he never mentions that Obama is also a Christian.

It's like I've been saying for a couple of years now, the Republicans have been driven so far to the right that they drove right over a cliff. Rick Perry is certainly not representitive of "the average American". He is typical Bible Belt material.

 

[micromass]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtFzuGeCfkc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg1reOJV27w

 

[Ivan Seeking]

...

Doggonnit, tham thar homosexshals have no right getting shot at!

 

[Dembadon]

Doggonnit, tham thar homosexshals have no right getting shot at!

That man is an imbecile. :uhh:

 

[Evo]

That man is an imbecile. :uhh:

Strange watching someone destroy their career so quickly and without any outside influence.

 

[netgypsy]

Don't forget "Dubbya" won - Oh yeah but this guy doesn't have the right last name and a brother who's governor of Florida.

 

[Evo]

Don't forget "Dubbya" won - Oh yeah but this guy doesn't have the right last name and a brother who's governor of Florida either.

I don't get it, what's the comparison?

 

[rootX]

Strange watching someone destroy their career so quickly and without any outside influence.

One thing surprises me how they build this kind of career in the first place.So far, I have stayed away from criticizing Rick Perry believing that his opinions/views represent a certain portion of American population.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Don't forget "Dubbya" won -

How could I? When I heard that Bush beat Gore, my head exploded and I still haven't found all the parts.

Gore invented computers for crying outloud!

 

[netgypsy]

I thought it was the internet?

Or was it the hair dryer

 

[Ivan Seeking]

One thing surprises me how they build this kind of career in the first place.

Just tell the people what they want to hear.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I thought it was the internet?

Or was it the hair dryer

Purdy sure he worked at Bell Labs... it was either that or he had bell-bottoms and a black lab.

 

[netgypsy]

What surprises me is that any sane person would run in the first place.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

What surprises me is that any sane person would run in the first place.

Who says they do?

 

[Dembadon]

...

So far, I have stayed away from criticizing Rick Perry believing that his opinions/views represent a certain portion of American population.

Unfortunately, they do.

 

[netgypsy]

You won't catch me criticizing him either. I live where 80 year old ladies are packing 45's and certainly will use them.

Speaking of al Gore I was curious about exactly what he said that caused the media to say he claimed to have invented the internet. Pretty interesting.

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp

 

[Ivan Seeking]

So far, I have stayed away from criticizing Rick Perry believing that his opinions/views represent a certain portion of American population.

He uses faith as a sales pitch and then lies about Obama. What about this is Christian? Why does he need to sell his religion? "I am holier than "THEM" as a campaign slogan? Please. That has more in common with used car sales than it does faith. This guy [and Romney] are utterly transparent.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You won't catch me criticizing him either. I live where 80 year old ladies are packing 45's and certainly will use them.

Speaking of al Gore I was curious about exactly what he said that caused the media to say he claimed to have invented the internet. Pretty interesting.

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp

He was largely responsible for driving the "information superhighway", as it was called then, and people laughed then too. Fact is that he was dead on.

 

[Fredrik]

One time when someone brought it up (when he was a guest on some show), he admitted that it wasn't his greatest moment, and explained it with "I was up late the night before, inventing the camcorder".

 

[Ryan_m_b]

The saddest thing about Rick Perry, like every disgusting politician, is that they were voted for. It doesn't matter too much if Perry really believes that a prayer rally is an appropriate response to a natural disaster or that he is homophobic because of his favourite ancient book, the sad thing is people saw him and thought "that's who we want deciding state policy"

 

[Office_Shredder]

Big plays by Rick Perry. Big plays

 

[rootX]

He uses faith as a sales pitch and then lies about Obama. What about this is Christian? Why does he need to sell his religion? "I am holier than "THEM" as a campaign slogan? Please. That has more in common with used car sales than it does faith. This guy [and Romney] are utterly transparent.

I don't understand your complains at all. Doesn't every candidate sell something either science, jobs, terrorism, or what not?

Obama is in favor of more liberal practices (gay culture/abortions/embryonic stem cell research), that many people like Perry are not. I don't see anything wrong in coming up on the national tv and voicing one's opinions.

 

[Evo]

I don't understand your complains at all. Doesn't every candidate sell something either science, jobs, terrorism, or what not?

Obama is in favor of more liberal practices (gay culture/abortions/embryonic stem cell research), that many people like Perry are not. I don't see anything wrong in coming up on the national tv and voicing one's opinions.

Yeah, that's what he did all right. :rofl: The problem is, he wants to be President.

 

[Kevin_Axion]

This makes me cringe...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiCRW5zGSG4

 

[PatrickPowers]

This makes me cringe...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiCRW5zGSG4

Slogan: "Stupidity. Third Time's the Charm."

 

[Fredrik]

Don't get me wrong, I agree that Rick Perry is an ignorant fool, but the fact that he couldn't remember that the third one was the department of energy isn't a reason to think so. Everyone talks about it as if it proves that he's a moron. In my opinion, it doesn't even point in that direction. It says nothing at all about his intelligence or leadership abilities. It's not like the USA is going to end up in a situation where he goes "Go ahead and bomb Iraq, Afghanistan, and...uh...". Even if that would happen, it's not like it would lead to an accidental bombing of Norway.

 

[Evo]

Don't get me wrong, I agree that Rick Perry is an ignorant fool, but the fact that he couldn't remember that the third one was the department of energy isn't a reason to think so. Everyone talks about it as if it proves that he's a moron. In my opinion, it doesn't even point in that direction. It says nothing at all about his intelligence or leadership abilities. It's not like the USA is going to end up in a situation where he goes "Go ahead and bomb Iraq, Afghanistan, and...uh...". Even if that would happen, it's not like it would lead to an accidental bombing of Norway.

Lots of gays in Norway, they're a very liberal, secular country. Just sayin...:tongue2:

 

[rootX]

Don't get me wrong, I agree that Rick Perry is an ignorant fool, but the fact that he couldn't remember that the third one was the department of energy isn't a reason to think so. Everyone talks about it as if it proves that he's a moron. In my opinion, it doesn't even point in that direction. It says nothing at all about his intelligence or leadership abilities. It's not like the USA is going to end up in a situation where he goes "Go ahead and bomb Iraq, Afghanistan, and...uh...". Even if that would happen, it's not like it would lead to an accidental bombing of Norway.

These distractions get more attention than the candidates' actual agendas: economy, health, and foreign policies etc.

 

[Evo]

These distractions get more attention than the candidates' actual agendas: economy, health, and foreign policies etc.

His track record in Texas is awful. There is a thread about him. He paid his friends to move their companies to Texas, there is a whole laundry list of bad things he's done. And then he lied about them, and worse, he got caught lying.

 

[Fredrik]

I thought this was kind of funny. Someone noticed that Rick Perry's coat in the video is very similar to a coat worn by Heath Ledger in a very famous movie.

http://fif.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads...be pretty funny if someone did it on purpose.

 

[Kevin_Axion]

I thought this was kind of funny. Someone noticed that Rick Perry's coat in the video is very similar to a coat worn by Heath Ledger in a very famous movie.

http://fif.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads...municate and fit in with the rest of society.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

These distractions get more attention than the candidates' actual agendas: economy, health, and foreign policies etc.

The problem isn't that he couldn't remember some random fact, it is that he couldn't remember his own platform. If the guy brain locks due to a little debate, what will he do in an actual crisis?

It's all moot anyway. He has established in his own party that he's not up to the job. He has no chance of being elected or even nominated.

 

[Fredrik]

The problem isn't that he couldn't remember some random fact, it is that he couldn't remember his own platform. If the guy brain locks due to a little debate, what will he do in an actual crisis?

You mean a crisis like if aliens invade and say they'll blow up the east coast if the president can't think of the name of the actor who played "Ben" on Lost in less than 15 seconds? I really can't think of any kind of crisis where the president needs this skill.

It's all moot anyway. He has established in his own party that he's not up to the job. He has no chance of being elected or even nominated.

Right, but what I find really sad about this is that he's being disqualified because of irrelevant things like this, while his poor understanding of economics and other things that matter is part of what gave him a fighting chance in the first place.