4a
Opinion
Monday, November 6, 2000
Perspective Intelligence not relevant to leadership
For comments, contact Ben Voosen Embry or Emily Hughey at 864-4924 or e-mail opinion@kansan.com
Want to know who's going to win the election? Read on. Looking at the debates is a good place to start.
Bush chose not to immerse himself in the specifics of policy so much as offer a broad philosophy and vision; his rhetoric, while far from bumbling, was indeed plain. He took a low-key approach. David Gergen, an old wiseman type who has worked for both Democratic and Republican presidents, even said Bush looked "sleepy."
Gore certainly gave the impression that he was smart – in an overbearing and often rude way. Those who misread the debate might have seen competence and aggression.
ing "knowledge and intellectual depth" and opined that his "uneven, lackadaisical performance through most of the campaign, capped by some of the least impressive debate performances in memory, raise questions about how well prepared Bush might be for the Oval Office and, frankly, how much he really wants the job."
Bush's lead has been small but steady since those head-to-head meetings, and my own theory is that the discerning and perhaps unconsciously wise electorate shares my own view of the debates.
Wise? The editors of *The Kansas City Star* certainly think not. In its editorial endorsing the Vice President, the Star lambasted Bush as lack-
As I write this, Bush averages a four-point lead in the day's tracking polls, an unmistakable turnaround from polls taken before the debate that showed Vice.
Andrew
Marino
columnist
opinion@kansan.com
debates that showed Vice President Gore consistently ahead.
Gore could probably spew forth more numbers concerning the intricacies of the federal budget than could Bush, thereby proving his superior "knowledge and intellectual depth." Of course, it also confirms what most have suspected of Gore all along: that he is wokish and weird and fails to decipher the forest from the trees. The forest in this case is a confident, guiding philosophy of government yielding sound judgment — not position papers. Clinton/Gore governing judgment has always been an extension of campaign strategy.
This view is not altogether incorrect. Gore admittedly yells louder at rallies. Is this a good thing?
In other words, voters prefer Bush because he holds no aspiration to churn out complex analysis of policy. His calm, good-natured demeanor and a rhetoric of principle rather than specifics communicates two messages: that he is a transparently good man and that his judgment can be trusted. Bush, for instance, opposes the government taxing any more than one-third of any individual's income. He opposes higher tax rates because to tax any greater percentage is wrong. The people nod collectively.
The Star has endorsed him because he would make a fine city manager. But the people do not want a manager, they want a president.
The news media fight off brain cramps reconciling the fact that while voters seem to favor Gore on the issues, they say they will vote for Bush. Experts shrug and chalk it up to Bush's "likeability," but it goes deeper than this. Voters like Bush because he is a balanced, normal man and they suspect Congress, aides and foreign leaders will like and respect him. They also suspect the two-term governor with a Harvard MBA and experience flying sophisticated warplanes is not a moron.
The lessons bequeathed to the country by our current leader should serve as sufficient instruction that unusual desire for power and extraordinary intelligence are irrelevant as indicators for presidential fitness. Decisions and leadership skill flow from character, judgment and philosophy — not IQ. Presidents should be chosen based on the same.
The people must choose rulers based not only on what the candidates say they know about issues, but also on what kinds of decision-makers they would be when faced with the unexpected. Will memorizing facts in a memo help Al Gore lead the country into a necessary but unpopular war? Will it help him to rally. inspire — lead?
Marino is a Prairie Village senior in political science.
Steve Sack / TIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES
Kansan.com poll
Last week's question
For whom do you plan to vote in the presidential race?
AI Gore (Democratic Party)
George W. Bush (Republican Party)
Harry Browne (Libertarian Party)
2 percent each Bush and Gore
Howard Phillips (Constitutional Party)
John Hagelin (Natural Law Party)
Pat Buchanan (Reform Party)
Ralph Nader (Green Party)
Note: This poll is not scientific. Numbers may not add up to 100 because of rounding.
4.514 people voted.
Do you think that a prior conviction should be relevant to a candidate's capacity to hold public office? Log on to www.kennan.com to cast your vote.
Next week's question:
Log on to www.kansan.com to cast your vote.
Perspective
Nader supporters waste time tweaking kansan.com poll
W with the 2000 presidential election ending tomorrow, the Green party has scored a victory in polls
They won a resounding 93 percent of the
vote in the kansan.com poll, as you can see above.
Aside from that, we see that, as in other polls, Bush and Gore remain deadlocked, although in this poll they're tied at two percent.
My God, how will they recover in time?
We also see that voter apathy has disappeared, with every single visitor to kansan.com planning to cast a ballot in the presidential race.
I'd have to give that poll a margin of error of, oh, 90 percent. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I think the poll may have been adjusted.
Chris Hopkins
online editor
connie@kckanan.com
While I appreciate the fact that the Nader brigade is devoted enough and thought the kansan.com poll was influential enough to warrant over 4,000 votes, I still didn't vote for Nader on Friday.
I have a little trouble voting for someone whose minions encourage this sort of
Results, of course, are not scientific. Numbers don't add up to 100 because of rounding.
Numbers don't add up at all because of hacking.
I suppose they might have tried to do something worse, maybe pasting a big green "Nader Ruiz" page as the front of the site, but that would have required actual work.
fuzzy math. And somehow, I don't think these absurdly distorted numbers are going to change anyone's mind.
Besides, there are better, quicker, more effective ways to get your word out. The fact of the matter is the Green Party has tried everything and it is not going to win. The chance of hitting that magic five percent when it earns federal matching funds in the next election is sketchy at best.
How would Nader have liked it if I had spliced a kansan.com logo into a Green Party TV commercial?
Either way, I don't particularly appreciate having the site screwed with.
Really, it's even sadder than the majorpart last-ditch efforts of the last week, the decades-old Gore-Phelps photos and Bush's 25-year-old conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol.
It realizes that, like it or not, the twoparty system is going to be in place for at least one more election.
Speaking of which, next week's kansan.com poll is about whether a prior conviction should be relevant to a candidate's capacity to hold public office.
All this silly poll manuevering can be described as an act of desperation.
As always, kansan.com encourages you to voice your opinion by voting.
Honkins is a Gresham, Ore. senior in journalism.
Editorial
Commission should reject housing plan
Lawrence City Commission should follow planners' vote against proposed ordinance.
The Planning Commission wisely questioned the ability of the city to enforce the proposed ordinance. Serious inconsistencies in the ordinance's enforcement could lead to discrimination against students or nonstudents. Lawrence is home to many people who aren't students, work full-time and live in households of more than two people. The Planning Commission said the city should enforce laws already in place before adding new ones.
The Lawrence City Commission should take note of the Planning Commission's vote Wednesday that would protect the housing of University of Kansas students and the vibrancy of the Lawrence community. In a 5-3 decision, the Planning Commission voted to recommend that the city not adopt a proposed housing ordinance that would limit the number of unrelated persons living together from four to two in single-family neighborhoods.
Of benefit to both students and Lawrence residents was the Planning Commission's unanimous decision to investigate parking regulations, landlord registration and city-code enforcement. Before pinning the problem of run-down housing on students, the city should do a better job of forcing landlords to maintain the buildings they own. After all, the larger pattern of disrepair that some neighborhoods have fallen into is the result of landlord negligence.
It is important to maintain the vibrancy of neighborhoods in the center of town, for families and students. But harmonious housing doesn't have to come at the expense of any one group.
The large number of students who attended the Planning Commission's meeting on Wednesday showed that students care about their rights and their effect within the community. Lawrence is a vibrant community because of the interaction between KU students and residents. The City Commission should not let the proposed housing ordinance change our community for the worse.
Erin Adamson for the editorial board
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. The Kansan reserves the right to edit submissions, and not all of them will be published. Siandiver statements will not be printed. To read more, go to www.kansan.com.
I think the electoral college is totally outdated. It only serves to negate dissenting votes within a state. Why can't every vote carry equal weight?
if homosexuals are going to be upset all of the time, why do we call them gav?
The men's basketball team already expects the University to cater to its every whim. Seth Jones's column only inflates their egos. The basketball team is not the most elite group on campus. They play college basketball, not cure cancer.
if homosexuals are going to be upset all of the time, why do we call them gav?
If George W. Bush is elected,
then I'm moving somewhere
else where beer is cheaper.
Sprints for a sexual assault? Are we going to let Charles Manson out if he agrees to do push-ups?
Whoever said Nader doesn't care knows absolutely nothing about the Green Party or about Nader's life as a public servant.
--if homosexuals are going to be upset all of the time, why do we call them gav?
It's funny how when a man feels out a place in a Women's Studies class, it makes front-page news. But when a minority feels out of place in an all-white class, nobody cares.
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Why is it that people feel the need to vote along the same party lines as their parents? Just because your parents do it doesn't make it right.
if homosexuals are going to be upset all of the time, why do we call them gav?
I think the young lady should file a civil suit against the football players. It worked against O.J. Simpson.
It makes me sad to think that Al Gore and George Bush are the best that our country has to offer.
if homosexuals are going to be upset all of the time, why do we call them gav?
You guys always publish comments on George W. Bush and not about how much Al Gore sucks.
Why do all chicken nuggets either look like South America or Ohio?
--if homosexuals are going to be upset all of the time, why do we call them gav?
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