The Real Real Deal ?

[GoBlue]

Atlantic Unbound | January 26, 2004

Politics & Prose | by Jack Beatty

The Real Real Deal

While John Kerry suffers from "terminal Senatitis," John Edwards exudes life and optimism

.....

Over two days I saw John Edwards and John Kerry speak at Dartmouth College. Edwards exhilarated my wife and me and the rest of the audience. We left the Kerry event before it ended and would have gone earlier if we had not hooked a ride with a more-patient friend—for we were bored, disappointed, and angry. Kerry has congratulated himself for abandoning "Washingtonese," but he was premature.

How, we wondered aloud driving home, could a man in public life for decades, running for President for more than a year, not do better than this? How could he say things like, "Two-hundred percent of poverty" or refer to his chairmanship of a Senate committee as—if I heard correctly—"Foreign Ops"? When he was served up a home-run pitch, "Why is this election so historic?", how could he begin so promisingly—"Three words. The Supreme Court"— but then maunder on inconsequently, satisfied with hitting a single? Why, above all, is he still running on his résumé? We know he's qualified to be President; his job as a candidate is to make us want him to be President.

As a personal-injury trial lawyer, John Edwards has made millions from his ability to persuade juries of ordinary Americans—by stirring their hearts with words, gesture, and sincerity. In contrast, John Kerry suffers from terminal Senatitis. Senators speak to themselves. Their colleagues don't listen to them. They can't see a single face in the galleries. The tradition of unlimited debate encourages prolixity. Senators talk (and talk) not to persuade but to justify their votes, and they inveterately sound defensive. Asked how an advocate of programs to help children could "favor ... partial birth abortion," Kerry caviled that he did not "favor" it; then he quoted the exact language of a resolution he supported allowing the practice under narrowly delineated conditions—in short, he justified his vote. Edwards would have evoked the agony of a woman faced with severe harm if she carried her baby to term—wanting that baby more than anything in the world and then being told that bearing it could kill or maim her. That is the stuff of tragedy, not legislation-speak. Kerry was asked why so few Senators have been elected President, and his answer on abortion showed why.
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/polipro/pp2004-01-26.htm

[Carolina]

1. thanks, Dr D

Senatitis is the perfect term. It fully describes why I have a very hard time listening to Kerry and find it painful and scary to think about him the nominee.

I used to call it the cringe factor, something I experienced watching Al Gore during the 2000 campaign. It refers to my own response watching/hearing a pol, i.e. can I sit back with ease and enjoy the man, his words, his communication/connection with people? Or do I sit on the edge of my chair fearing a flub, the appearance of haughtiness, lack of connection, use of esoteric references ...