Could a truly honest politician become president?

[alp227]

(About the author: Kathleen Hall Jamieson is the director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, home of FactCheck.org and its sister site, FlackCheck.org. She is a co-author, with Kate Kenski and Bruce W. Hardy, of “The Obama Victory: How Media, Money and Message Shaped the 2008 Election.”)

Remember Walter Mondale’s 1984 pledge to raise taxes? “Let’s tell the truth. . . . Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won’t tell you. I just did.”

Mondale lost in a landslide.

The problem was not that he told the truth, but that Republican ads twisted his words, alleging that, rather than using the new revenue to pay down the deficit, the Democrat would squander it on a social spending spree.

(...)

To win over the public honestly in 2012, a presidential aspirant would tell us things we need to hear but don’t want to. Such a candidate might acknowledge that the United States will be more affected by — than have and effect on — the dramas unfolding in the Middle East and the European Union. An honest candidate would need to specify how he or she would address the more than $1 trillion budget deficit, which might include defense cuts; eliminating some of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts; taxing employer-provided health-care coverage; slowing the growth rate of Social Security and Medicare; phasing in a higher eligibility age for Social Security; eliminating the payroll-tax limit; and getting rid of the interest deduction for some home mortgages. President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney aren’t avoiding this discussion, per se, but they’re not offering specific plans for how they’d address the impending crisis, either.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/could-a-truly-honest-politician-become-president/2012/07/06/gJQAGK4OSW_singlePage.html

[StephanieStark]

1. No

Nah.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Welcome to DU, StephanieStark!

Glad you found us!

[madmom]

3. I think one did and we saw what happened to him....

I believe Jimmy Carter's biggest problem was he was too honest!

[emilyg]

8. Yes. Truman so honest, too.

[dimbear]

4. It's just barely conceivable. If an enormous disaster put in one of the appointed cabinet members.

Thru election never.

[pscot]

5. Candor requires raising taxes and reducing aid

to the already embattled middle class? Smells like a load of the same manure rMoney is trying to peddle.

[SoutherDem]

6. There is truth, then there is truth but then again you have truth.

Short answer NO.
Long answer Yes but no.
Confused yet?
First you have truth. Some politicians tell the truth as noted Mondale said "I will raise taxes" and he lost. The American people didn't want the truth they wanted a magical answer thus Reagan's Trickle Down Economics.
Second, you have truth. Some politicians have a hope that if they are reasonable, willing to give and take, then every elected official will be equally reasonable. When Obama made some of his promises I think he was telling the truth as he knew it, but he was not anticipating completely obstructionist Republicans and Democrats who couldn't understand to put their personal wants aside for the greater good. His truth was only true as far as it was allowed to be by outside factors.
But then you have truth. Some politicians say what they need to for the moment at hand. I present you Mitt Romney the only person running for office who has at one time or another held every possible position one every possible issue. He's truth is determined by the mood of the moment by who he is trying to impress at that given moment. His truth is empty.

[xchrom]

7. Mondale had the charisma of a door knob.

Let's put an honest message w/ some one like a JFK or FDR or even that corporate water carrier Clinton and see what happens.

You can't separate message from the ability to carry the message.

Dems have become notorious for not being able to articulate - and that's a legitimate critique.

[Odin2005]

9. No, because the average American doesn't like to be told the truth.

Jimmy Carter told Americans the truth and they didn't want to face it, so they voted for Reagan, who encouraged Americans' willful denial.

[raccoon]

10. Exactly, they don't want to hear the truth, they want to hear pretty lies

about "morning in America."

[truth2power]

11. Gore Vidal once said that anyone who could be elected under the present system

ought not be allowed to serve. I think he was right.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

12. H. L. Mencken's view

The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre—the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

There are those who say that we met this with the election of George W. Bush.

[Odin2005]

14. "Virtual vacuum" sounds like Mittens.

[Marrah_G]

13. No

[Douglas Carpenter]

15. the political scientist Larry Sabato once said that the two most honest presidential candidates in

post World War II era were Barry Goldwater and George McGovern. When we look at how well they faired, what does that tell you about the American electorate?

[sad sally]

16. No. One of the big lies is that our democracy only has room for a two-party system

And we just keep on believing the lies, as our memories are very short. As Will Rogers said, "The short memories of Americans are what keeps our politicians in office."

[SpectateSwamp]

17. Not when the Chamber of Commerce controls the forums

I post on a number of forums. What I am reading is a lot of frustration because of the inability to change things. People wanting to kill lobbyists and their political friends along with Banksters. I understand where they are coming from.

The answer is Shoot Them with video. I have been doing this for years and they don't like it a lot. I got banned from videoing open council meetings in the 2 local communities. I have been hounding political forums with video since I ran for election here. See "Yellowhead Speaks 1993" During that election run I noticed how corrupt the political forums were and it made me mad real mad.

My plan is to run in every election from now on. Not to get elected but to out the Chamber of Commerce and their corrupt election stealing ways. My back will be to the attendees as I attack the CofC.

Political forums are the breeding grounds of corrupt politicians.. Go get 'em Citizens

(2-Min 3-Sec) political forum; I attack the politicos back in 1993


The Chamber of Commerce rigs election / plants questions. That's why the Marijuana question never comes up. They would lose too many votes.

(2-Min 2-Sec) Civic forum the CofC posed 3 questions. Should the corporate vote be reinstated. 3 of our 4 elected councilors thought it should. This never made the local paper.


Our group the Citizens Coalition For Open Government Through Video had 165 questions we wanted the candidates to pull from a hat. That didn't happen.

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/stonedan/QUESTIONS.TXT

(2-Min 39Sec) here the signal for the planted question is a tap tap. There should be jail time for election tampering....


http://www.osoyoostimes.com/news/2011/04/13/oliver-federal-candidates-forum-to-be-closed-to-public/#comments

Wow people not allowed at the meet the candidates forum in the last federal election.

(1-Min 22-Sec)

a councilor and family was threatened by the CofC for his standing up for the homeless. This friend confronted James Roszko the infamous cop killer and thief. While on his trapline. The CofC wanted the homeless shelter removed from town. When they realized that the whole town was behind the homeless they wanted their business names removed from the list of concerned businesses. A CofC member tried to control the meeting from the crowd. He had a bully covering his back.

Here in Canada there was a riot during the Hockey playoffs. Most of it was on video. This will never happen again. People know they can't get away with crimes in public because there will be video.
CCFOGTV needs to be doing civic audits not Municipality hacks. They never find anything wrong. All 4 communities I know about are totally corrupt. No honest person can work or get promoted in those towns.

Hunt them down with video. It's easy.

Why don't elected officials or candidates ever attack the CofC for this practice. Because most are Chamber members. Thats why.

Doug Pederson AKA SpectateSwamp