Tom Shales: Whoever Succeeds, A Winning Way on TV Didn't Get Him There

[kskiska]

(snip)

George W. Bush, the recumbent incumbent, is about as exciting on TV as a sock puppet -- but his appearances are not without a compelling sort of suspense. He can induce tension in viewers who fear he may make, on camera, some grotesque gaffe that will embarrass the nation, and there's always nervous concern about whether the prompting devices will break down and leave him speechless in more ways than one.

Bush has achieved something unique in TV personas, managing on occasion to come across as arrogant and terrified at the same time. In his eyes one can see fear when he struggles -- often vainly -- for an apt word or phrase or just a little burst of coherence. And yet he's also possessed of an almost Napoleonic pomposity when performing presidential duties, such as thrusting out his chest and strutting up to a podium. He tried on different personalities in the presidential debates, sometimes attempting gravitas, sometimes speaking down to the audience as if it consisted entirely of third-graders, and then in the last debate turning into Laughing Boy, finding his opponent's remarks to be so darn funny he just couldn't contain himself.

(snip)

As for Bush, his constituency obviously doesn't care about his prowess on the pulpit, or his minimal abilities as public speaker and fireside chatterer. Either they don't care that he can look foolish on TV, or else they think he looks just fine. They don't consider him ludicrous even when he is fumbling around with a question at one of his shockingly infrequent press conferences, or landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier in some mad modern version of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.

(snip)

Pollster John Zogby includes what he calls a "Wizard of Oz" question in his polls about presidential preferences. He asks people if they would rather have a president with a big heart and no brains or a big brain and no heart. In 2000, the two values tied. But this year, "brain" won by a substantial margin. That, one would assume, bodes well for Kerry. The TV images do not.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14519-2004Oct31.html

[Robbie67]

1. Schwarznegger and Clinton were the TV stand-ins

kinda

[bemildred]

2. Like, helmet-hair airheads in high office is a good thing? nt