Dispatches From Exile: Weekly Mind Dump, 7/23-7/29, 2023
There's no business like show business — except politics. Don't blame the media if you're failing to connect with voters.
I can’t think of a single president in my lifetime who, when under water in the polls, didn’t blame his situation on 1) the news media; and 2) ineffective “messaging.” Nixon and his circle incessantly blamed journalists for misrepresenting him for his failing presidency. Gaff-prone, prat-falling Ford did the same. As well as malaise-stricken Carter. Reagan caught some guff with Iran-Contra, but largely enjoyed positive polling after his first two years. Both Bush’s and their spin-meisters constantly lit into the news media whenever they hit p.r. flak. Clinton and Obama had their contretemps with news organizations whenever there were renewed bimbo eruptions, in the case of the former, or weakness in the face of tough Republican leaders, in the case of the latter. And, of course, Trump and his go-for-the-throats zampolits waged unrelenting warfare against their invented “fake news” enemies. The need for “stronger messaging” usually also accompanied these attacks on the fourth estate.
As you can see in the above Twitter exchanges, I take issue with the great David Rothkopf and Hawaiian Senator Brian Schatz — two men I greatly admire. They fall into the same predictable groove that partisans tend to do — blaming President Biden’s low polling numbers on the “failure of the media to adequately cover” his successes, particularly the economy.
And his achievements are indeed impressive: GDP is up 2.4 percent, surpassing expert forecasts; consumer spending is also up by 1.6 percent; after-tax and inflation-adjusted personal income rose at a 2.5 percent rate in the second quarter; inflation has cooled down to 2.6 percent; unemployment remains low at 3.6 percent; and the stock market is at near-record highs.
Yet —
A recent NBC-News poll found 70 percent of Americans believe President Biden “should not run for president” and 60 percent think Trump shouldn’t. Thirty-eight percent have positive views of Biden, while 48 percent gave him a negative rating — 38 percent very negative. Trump scored a 34 percent positive rating and a 53 percent negative rating — with 44 percent indicating very negative.
Not impressed?
An Economist/YouGov poll last month found that only 33 percent of voters want Donald Trump to run and 26 percent want President Biden to do so. Large majorities— 56 percent and 59 percent, respectively — would prefer they stay out.
An incumbent president with a legislative record arguably matching that of LBJ, if not FDR, enjoying impressive economic indicators and whose foreign policy management (except for Afghanistan) has demonstrated deftness, toughness and skill, is running neck-and-neck in the polls with a single-term ex-president facing nearly 40 legal charges, and growing; whose corruption, immorality, incompetence and criminality rival any barbarian king in human history.
So, what gives?
Showbiz.
The late Russell Baker noted, “Nowadays almost every business is like show business, including politics, which has become more like show business than show business is.”
I’ve always maintained that politics is half issues and half showbiz. Like it or not. As a journalist and as a State Department official, I witnessed first-hand how some of the best politicians, foreign and American, were at the top of their game due to their skilled showmanship before the public. (Warning: serious name-dropping ahead.)
I saw Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush a handful of times at White House events. Both came off as genuine, avuncular and adept at working a crowd. As an ad hoc member of President Bill Clinton’s Secret Service detail when he made a state visit to Vietnam in 2000, I got to observe him up close. Clinton was a master at playing a room — personable, humorous, charming and very knowledgeable. He went out of his way to show his gratitude to staff and servants while ably holding his own with hard-nosed Vietnamese communist leaders. John McCain had a wicked sense of humor and likewise went out of his way to listen to staffers and regular folks. John Kerry impressed with his intellect and lack of arrogance. Sam Nunn had no airs and never lost the ability to mix it up with ordinary folks in ordinary settings. Richard Shelby could press the flesh like no other and had an uncanny memory for people’s names and relationships. Others nonetheless succeed at politics despite their arrogance, self-centeredness and wooden personalities (hello Ron DeSantis). I’ll leave them unnamed.
Joe Biden comes across to most people as a decent family man, temperate and with a wry sense of humor. A professional politician since 1972, he certainly knows the secret of success in politics or his staying power wouldn’t have endured as it has. But he’s 80 years old and shows it. Name the octogenarians you know who can light up a room with a dynamic personality and charisma. Americans’ obsession with youth bears on their perception of their leaders.
But Trump is 77. Only three-plus years younger than Biden. Hardly a spring chicken either.
But Trump is a natural-born showman. He cut his teeth with “The Apprentice,” but he also possesses an extraordinary ability to entertain, to play on his audience’s emotions. He’s a clown. He’s an actor. He’s a flim-flam man. Just like Harold Hill in “The Music Man.”
I’ve long maintained that all Americans, before being allowed to vote, should have to pass the same citizenship test as immigrants must who wish to become U.S. citizens. Pending that highly unlikely eventuality, our politics will remain a bread and circus arena where the best entertainer likely wins.
To paraphrase the Bard, “The fault, dear Politicians, is not in your messaging nor the media, but in yourselves.”