Joe Honick, GMA International Ltd (5/31):
Wes, my history book tells me that Harry Truman had one of the lowest if not the lowest approval ratings going into the election and the night he held aloft a sign saying: DEWEY WINS!
Wes Pedersen (5/31):
It could happen, Joe, especially if Obama offends many more segements of the population. His reference to Polish death camps was insulting; there were no Polish death camps. The death camps in Poland were Nazi camps. Also, consider the fact that by by the time of the 1948 election, Truman was running almost even with Dewey. The press refused to acknowledge that truth.
[email protected] (5/31):
You hit it on the head, Wes. At a time when we need "greatness," (okay, I'll settle for strong leadership), we get "kill the other candidate" messages from both Obama and Romney. No wonder, so many Americans who could provide us with answers no longer want to get into the political arena.
Wes Pedersen (5/31):
Arthur, you are too kind...but no need to change. Unless I foul up big time, in which case I expect your learned denunciation.
Sam Waltz, APR, Fellow PRSA, Wilmington, DE (5/31):
Wes Pedersen, well said, and it's nice to agree.
Okay, I'm a registered D, a greying WASP, but I'm a social progressive "reform D" as a Small Biz D who is suspicious of "Big Guvmint" and those who want to use the levers of Guvmint to redress all ills. No, I'm not enthusiastic about Romney either.
And, yes, this country has been long overdue for a minority or woman POTUS. But, more important, when this country -- for which I enlisted in the US Army to serve 1967-70 in the Vietnam era -- has the major infrastructure-type issues that it has in capital structures, public education and others, what I see this POTUS BHO doing is usurping public revenues and moving them to "private goods" type payments and away from the much needed public infrastructure issues, reflecting his focus on redressing grievances around how a free society allocates wealth and privilege.
Also, frankly, BHO -- who I'd liked after my Greenville DE neighbor VP Joe Biden dropped out in 2008 -- lost me when he lied to us about his commitment to use Public Funds in the 2008 General Election campaign, one of the things that I'd liked was his willingness not to create a link to special interests.
On the one Campaign Promise that BHO could have controlled, that is, how he funded his 2008 campaign, after promising for my support and others in the 2008 primaries that he would use Public Funding, once he got the D nomination and saw how much private / special interest money he could raise, he basically told me and millions of others sympathetic to him, "oops, shame on you, you believed me, I lied to you, and I won't use public funding, instead I'll take private and special interest money!"
Wes, that was a true test of character and honesty, and Barack Obama failed that test in my view in his dialogue and campaign with you and me. It's a shame, because I'm a D, and was a VP of the Campus Dems at the U of Illinois in the 1960s, and it would have been great to support him. Instead, well..
Wes Pedersen (5/31):
Sam,thanks for your in-depth response. Our great problem is that mass disappointment with these candidates, coupled with a mired-up Congress, will lead to mass disgust with the democratic system.
Northern PR (5/31):
Wes, with all due respect, your analysis of Obama and his chances against Romney this Nov. are about as accurate as your prediction that Hilary Clinton's career was over because of her photos drinking beers and dancing in Columbia.
Far from being over, Hilary's standing is stronger than ever. There is now a constant drumbeat of speculation about Clinton being slotted in over Biden for the VP slot, and that she is the presumptive front runner for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential campaign (if she chooses to run, and I believe she will). Anyone that thought in the first place that the president was going to be a shoo-in for reelection this year was living a fantasy.
Of course this is going to be a tight and viciously fought election. This is a deeply divided country. But, just as you did with Clinton, you are making some wild predictions here that, in my view, are way off the mark.
Wes Pedersen (6/13):
Northern, we'll see how wild the Obama predictions are when the votes are counted. Will you have a name and address then so that I may contact you? As for Hillary, I have announced my admiration for her repeatedly. If she is Biden's replacement, fine. If she runs in 2016, the country will have a chance to elect a great president. No apologies for being disappointed by her after-confrence whoop it up. I am used to to more decorum at summit meetings.
I trust you have read the latest headline confirmations of my column.
Thinkman2 (5/31):
Please refer to a piece: Will A Real World Leader Please Stand? Perhaps we've reached the time when the Constitution needs to be changed so we can do what other international corporations do when they need a new CEO: Get a good headhunter!
media guru (6/10):
I trust you all watched Obama do his damndest to betray his ignorance of the ecofnomy in his debate with Romney. |