Yeah, That's Leadership
Here is a Washington Post story on Hillary's pollster, Mark Penn, that's quite revealing.
Armed with voluminous data that he collects through his private polling firm, Penn has become involved in virtually every move Clinton makes, with the result that the campaign reflects the chief strategist as much as the candidate.
In other words, a Hillary Clinton presidency promises a return to governance by polling that was so prominent in her husband's two terms. Such an approach is somewhat weaselly to begin with -- aren't these people elected to do more than slavishly follow public opinion? -- but becomes particularly pernicious in an age of terrorism.
We all know what happened because Bill Clinton famously decided that it wasn't politically advantageous either to acknowledge or confront the terrorist threat. Do we really want a repeat of all that?
Armed with voluminous data that he collects through his private polling firm, Penn has become involved in virtually every move Clinton makes, with the result that the campaign reflects the chief strategist as much as the candidate.
In other words, a Hillary Clinton presidency promises a return to governance by polling that was so prominent in her husband's two terms. Such an approach is somewhat weaselly to begin with -- aren't these people elected to do more than slavishly follow public opinion? -- but becomes particularly pernicious in an age of terrorism.
We all know what happened because Bill Clinton famously decided that it wasn't politically advantageous either to acknowledge or confront the terrorist threat. Do we really want a repeat of all that?
posted by LadybugUSA at 7:06 PM
4 Comments:
Yet President Bush is widely criticised for NOT listening to the "voice of the people" i.e. - Polling Data?
I'm soo confused
Widely criticised for it by those who don't want a leader in the White House, but a puppet of the people. As long as the left is the people pulling the strings. What's confusing is why they don't see the incongruity. They accuse Bush of being just that sort of president, being instructed by the dreaded neo-cons, but the left believes they know enough and are smart enough to do what they criticise the neo-cons for doing, nevermind whether it's actually happening or if the neocons in question are skilled enough to know how.
The last thing we want is politicians listening to the people. That's just not the Conservative way.
It works this way: We have our reps in Congress. We want to whine, it's to them we whine. The president is elected to lead based on his track record and platform during his campaign. A president listens way back when and formulates an opinion of how the country should function. He presents that during his campaign and is elected or rejected based upon that. Once elected, he has his mandate by virtue of electoral support and runs with it like a leader should. Does he listen to his people while there? Of course. Should he rule by opinion polls? Only if he's a spineless excuse for a leader.
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