WP: John Six-Pack (yet another Kerry dissection - is he likable?)

[DeepModem Mom]

John Six-Pack
No Back-Slapping Populist and Not Quite Popular, Kerry Still Can Be -- Rumor Has It -- Likable and Fun
By Mark Leibovich
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 25, 2004; Page D01


....One of the persistent raps against Kerry during his career has become a recurring cliche of the 2004 election: that the Democratic nominee-in-waiting has "likability" problems. That he is "aloof." That typical voters would rather have a beer with George W. Bush -- if Bush still drank beer -- and that this could hamper Kerry as it did Al Gore in 2000.

Like all caricatures, this is a shallow rendering of a complex man. Interviews with people who have known and worked with Kerry reveal a personal and political bearing that defies easy characterization. Senate colleagues from both parties say Kerry can be a "good friend" (even in a place where that term, like hair spray, is badly overused). They also acknowledge his reserve, occasional social clumsiness and the catalogue of stories that have animated the caricature over the years.

"The idea that John isn't fun to hang out with is nonsense," says former Nebraska Democratic senator Bob Kerrey. "He has a range of interests and a capacity for introspection that most who have taken the time to know him love. Is he a backslapping, glad-handing butt-kisser? No, but he is terrific company."...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40002-2004Apr24.html

[JI7]

1. he is lovable

for those who get to know him and not the media whore stereotyping of him. i would love for everyone to speak with him and get to know him. i never met him myself but i know some who have and learned a lot from them and i see it when i watch him on tv.

[The Zanti Regent]

12. WHORESHINGTON POST lies for the GOP again.

So what else is new?

Can ANYONE tell the difference between the Whoreshington Post and the Moonie Times?

[Quetzal]

2. He said that he was going to come to Hawaii

during the general election campaign to windsurf. If he comes to Maui, I'll get some pictures.

Sure, some individuals may portray him as a boring kind of person, but I think he is a thinker who ponders about many things that are going on.

It seems Gore wasn't too fond of him:

Not Kerry, who approached Gore and, according to accounts by two people who were at the hotel that night, began explaining to the vice president why he was losing. Gore retreated to another room and told an aide to "get this * out of here," referring to the Massachusetts senator, who had been campaigning for him. Tony Coelho, Gore's campaign chairman, led Kerry away.

[Judi Lynn]

20. The author of this piece doesn't actually have a specific source

for this duerrogatory anecdote, but this paragraph, preceding the one you chose is helpful for context:

About an oft-recounted incident that allegedly happened on the night Al Gore won the New Hampshire primary four years ago. Early in the evening, exit polls were predicting an upset win for Bill Bradley. Gore was waiting in a holding room at the Holiday Inn in Manchester. He was in a bad mood, and his aides were treading lightly.

If the right-wing couldn't procure hit pieces, and an ongoing stream of insinuation and disrespect for ALL true Democratic politicians,via their own twisted, warped media outlets they couldn't get elected, period. They have NOTHING to offer the larger mass of Americans. Their only chance of survival resides in attempted or successful destruction of their betters.

[elperromagico]

3. He plays classical guitar and participates in extreme sports...

What's not to love? ;) Strikes me as a pretty cool guy to hang out with, if you ask me.

[JI7]

5. surf, ski, ride bikes with Kerry or drink beer with Bush ?

[JI7]

4. "he doesn't try to be someone he's not."

"Kerry-watchers say the best thing he has going for him is that, generally, he doesn't try to be someone he's not. "I always joke with him," says Bob Kerrey. "I say, 'John, when you get west of the Mississippi, lose those Hermes ties you wear.' "

But Kerry doesn't, and maybe that's an asset.
Kerry, if not quite a magnetic presence, knows who he is, friends say. Age, experience and the successes of his primary campaign have given him a greater ease than he's had in the past. "

this is what i like because it's the opposite of bush. bush tries to be something he isn't such as a regular guy, war hero etc. i remember when people were complaining about kerry's ski vacation and it's perception. but i thought it was good he wasn't trying to be something he wasn't. he emphasizes his true self that can appeal to many such as being a vietnam vet. his experience, etc. when right wingers attack kerry for talking about helping others while having so much himself, kerry should respond by saying that having priveledges in life does not excuse one from caring about others. and his military service is a huge example of this.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. You're right -- Bush is portrayed as a real, regular guy...

yet he's the one who pretends to be a flyboy/cowboy, neither of which he is.

[izzie]

9. A long while ago I also read these things.

Bush swears like a sailor and he has every 'save the earth' thing he can have used at his ranch. Both do not bother me but it is what he does that gets me on that.It is like him getting the sales tax on all in Tx to sell some land for the baseball team.Yet he runs on no tax. He is a man who lives by polls.He also seem to do anything to win.

[Design8edGrouch]

7. Boy, Oh Boy, leave it to the media

to miss the point entirely. It doesn't matter if he is a likable person. Face it, you are never going to get the chance to have a beer or wine spritzer with him anyway. What counts is his ability to think and act presidential. Will he be honest with the citizens? Will the common good be the basis for his decisions? Can he articulate his policies? Will he need to sit on the VP's knee if he ever has to testify?

[Redneck Socialist]

11. Unfortunately "likability" is the point.

Many people, if not most, vote for the candidate that they are most comfortable with. Think back over the past few presidential elections, which candidates would you rather hang out and drink beer with? The candidate that passes that test in most cases ends up with the presidency.

The qualities that you put forth as most critical in a presidential candidate are important, but few people use them as a basis for determining who to vote for.

[Lindacooks]

23. I think that's true for many of the sheeple

but I also think that there are many people who are simply furious at what has happened over the last four years, and they are going to vote for Senator Kerry.

And that the sheeple think Bush* is a 'good old boy' just infuriates me. He's a poseur, a fake, a spoiled rich boy who pretends to be 'just folks'.

[izzie]

8. I said this days ago. Kerry is a thinker and not a black/white guy

I still think that way. Now Joe 6 pack? It tells me in the news, all the time, that he likes easy answers then they say it is going to be the people in the middle that will say how the election will go. That leads me to think the thinking guy running will do better. Now since I want Kerry to win, all my information is filleted through a liberals mind. Now is that help?

[cally]

10. Kerry is likeable by those who know him

This paragraph says it all. How many remain best friends with your ex-wife's siblings let alone their twin.

"In his early years in the Senate, as his first marriage was ending, Kerry returned to Boston every weekend -- and on some weekdays -- to see his school-age girls. He spent many late nights on the phone, helping them with homework. Kerry's first wife, Julia Thorne, still speaks fondly of him. Her twin brother, David Thorne, remains one of his closest friends. Kerry has a legion of admirers who swear by his courage, decency and, yes, affability. This includes a cohort of veterans with whom he served in Vietnam, many of whom have traveled the country to campaign for him"


For those who missed this article, I found this the most insightful article on Kerry's background. (It's from the New Republic)

http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/NewRepublic/2004/04/12/410213?page=2

[bleedingheart]

13. I prefer a president who is smarter than most people than one who

is "likable"...

I went to school with a lot of "likable" people who were incompetent or who used their "likeability" to use other people.

[hatrack]

14. Who gives a SHIT?!?!?!?!?

I don't want a president who is perceived as "likeable" by 62% of those surveyed (in a nationwide poll of voting-age adults, MOE +/- 4.2%).

I want a president who is really smart, and who works really hard, who can think for himself and not depend on "trusted aides" to pre-chew his information for him. In addition, a president who does not receive messages directly from some putative vaporous deity would also be nice.

Who gives a FUCK about whether the public generally preceives a president as "likeable".

Yeah, yeah, just showing how out of the voting mainstream I am, I guess . . .

[kskiska]

15. Did these people vote for Nixon

because he was a likeable Joe 6-Pack?

They said all this about Al Gore, but I still think Al would be a terrific date. At any rate, I don't give a sh*t whether a candidate is just like the guy next door. I want an intellectual, a reader, a thinker, and someone a lot smarter than the guy next door.

[OHdem10]

16. The Media continues to dumb down elections

and in the end hurt our country.

Being a true Leader in the free world does require a complex thought or two. We have a "mell of a hess" because of simplistic thinking. Absolutist approaching the world as if serious problems are black and white. "You are either with us or against us" "Good versus evil" "Us against them".

Life does not work this way in reality. There are extenuating circumanstnces which must be weighed. There are "shades of gray"--not just blck and white.

For whatever reason the Media has come to substitute "personality"--Likeabilty in the place of Leadership. I can remember a time in this country when the Media would have encouraged people to try to grow and learn more about candidates. They would have been concerned with education. Nuance was a value. It illustrated you did not knee jerkedly arrive at a conclusion but instead realized the gravity of your position and would not headstrongly dive into a siuation you might regret. Our Leaders were permittted to evolve.
Todays Media expect that all your positions on life's concerns be
formed by the time you are twenty and God Help the one who might grow a little bit. They have decided to go with the groups who are least educated and try to bring all of us down to their level. It used to be our citizens were encouraged to go for lofitier growth. Bring the lower levels up to understand life has complexities. It was the Media"s role to explain the complexities.

Yes, Joe six Pack is important and I am not be a snob here, I can remember a time when it was more important to respect someone than it was to like him. Until we once again go there, we shall
continue to "slap each other on the back" and watch our country go down the drain. Dumbing down our Society is not a good thing.

[riverwalker]

17. the Windsurfer article

is my favorite. It's like sitting around and having a beer with Kerry. Very likable, honest, and real.
http://www.americanwindsurfer.com/mag/back/issue5.5.html

[w4rma]

18. Kerry seems "likable" to me. (nt)

[bemildred]

19. Kerry is the un-Shrub.

The no-bullshit let's get to business candidate.
:-)

[Snellius]

21. Why do Starbucks Steves always try to stereotype Joe Six-Pack?

All these people that the press tries to typify as "Joe Six-Pack" or "Nascar Dads" or "Soccer Moms" are nothing but caricatures drawn by people who have little or no idea of the common hopes and fears of the average American.

[bemildred]

22. It's the third party PR technique.

It's not that these morons don't like Kerry, it's
the "common man" who thinks that Kerry is an "elitist"
while Shrub is a "regular guy". Notice the complete
lack of any substantiating evidence, too.

[are_we_united_yet]

24. Uh-oh here we go with another media marketed product