Beyond the Issues: Lessons For A New President
August 11th 2008 23:07
When the Olympics comes around, it is supposed to be a time of international unity. When all eyes turn to the games and partisanism is withdrawn in exchange for supporting the athletes of your country in their quest for gold. Even the US election campaign has taken the opportunity for a well-earned break, with Barack Obama disappearing from the mainland and John McCain unable to control the news agenda even if he tried. The result of this lull in the election trail, the calm before the storm, is a time for sobering reflection on what leadership and being President of the United States truly means.
It is these times of reflection, we look to the elder statesmen of US politics to give us an idea of what characteristics the leader of the free world needs to show. Who better to ask than the longest serving US Senator, 90-year old West Virginian Robert Byrd. Byrd has been a serving Senator for almost 50 years and as such has seen quite a few Presidents come and go, so when he says he has advice for the new kid on the block you know he might have a few pearls of wisdom to dispense. And so he has written a book, “Letter to a New President: Commonsense Lessons for Our Next Leader”, with a view to advising Obama or McCain about what the country needs. What is his main lesson? Look at George W Bush and do the opposite.
Well, Byrd may have been a Senator for 50 years but he’s been a Democrat for longer than that so it would be a bit surprising if his advice didn’t come with an air of partisanism about it. In fact, Byrd is going to hand-deliver a copy to Senator Obama and, when asked about the possibility that McCain becomes President, spokespeople for Byrd said that “(he) doesn’t believe McCain is going to be the next President but if (McCain) is interested in receiving a copy of the book, we’d be happy to get him a copy”.
Despite the fact that Byrd seems to be in favour of a “President Obama”, there are many of the lessons of the book that seem to directly apply to the maverick young Senator. Byrd warns the next President to be humble and contemplative, a particularly poignant piece of advice for Obama whose run at the Presidency has had the atmosphere of a coronation. Campaigns like that tend to leave themselves open to hubris, something Obama has already been accused of.
There are just as many lessons that apply directly to McCain in Byrd’s analysis. Byrd calls for the next President to “reject the politics of fear”, something McCain would never have been accused of during the 2000 campaign but has rapidly been succumbing to as he inches closer to Election Day. Byrd also calls on the next President to accept dissenting opinions and to admit and learn from your mistakes. McCain has a reputation as a maverick wildcard when it comes to toeing the party line in the Senate but, at the same time, a lot of his maverick attitude can be attributed to the distinct presence of inflexible stubbornness. In a sense, the stubbornness that gave birth to “Maverick McCain” may also give birth to “Stubborn McCain” and in the position of President, where the status quo changes on a daily basis, the question is whether McCain will be able to adapt to any changes in circumstance.
Byrd spends a whole chapter calling on the candidates to let the media do their job, and don’t complain about it. It’s a lesson that both could stand to learn. If one had to say the election thus far was about one thing, you could say that it was about the media. McCain says Obama gets all the attention and he’s been left out in the cold. And every time the media makes a negative comment about Obama, his campaign rally against unfair reporting. Gone are the days when candidates would roll with the punches. In this campaign the media are more like a genuine third contender, with the candidates attacking them almost as much as they attack each other. Senator Byrd has been at this a whole lot longer than they have, and if they have a hope of lasting nearly as long as his 50 years of service they would do well to take his advice. The media has a long memory.
When it comes down to it, Byrd’s book has a lot of advice that can be practically applied to either candidate should they be elected to President. But for now, it will all be put on the shelf. It is hard to run a totally virtuous election campaign these days. McCain tried but since then he has realised how hard it is to compete when promoting bipartisan solidarity.
Until the election, all Byrd’s book will do is gather dust.
It is these times of reflection, we look to the elder statesmen of US politics to give us an idea of what characteristics the leader of the free world needs to show. Who better to ask than the longest serving US Senator, 90-year old West Virginian Robert Byrd. Byrd has been a serving Senator for almost 50 years and as such has seen quite a few Presidents come and go, so when he says he has advice for the new kid on the block you know he might have a few pearls of wisdom to dispense. And so he has written a book, “Letter to a New President: Commonsense Lessons for Our Next Leader”, with a view to advising Obama or McCain about what the country needs. What is his main lesson? Look at George W Bush and do the opposite.
Well, Byrd may have been a Senator for 50 years but he’s been a Democrat for longer than that so it would be a bit surprising if his advice didn’t come with an air of partisanism about it. In fact, Byrd is going to hand-deliver a copy to Senator Obama and, when asked about the possibility that McCain becomes President, spokespeople for Byrd said that “(he) doesn’t believe McCain is going to be the next President but if (McCain) is interested in receiving a copy of the book, we’d be happy to get him a copy”.
Despite the fact that Byrd seems to be in favour of a “President Obama”, there are many of the lessons of the book that seem to directly apply to the maverick young Senator. Byrd warns the next President to be humble and contemplative, a particularly poignant piece of advice for Obama whose run at the Presidency has had the atmosphere of a coronation. Campaigns like that tend to leave themselves open to hubris, something Obama has already been accused of.
There are just as many lessons that apply directly to McCain in Byrd’s analysis. Byrd calls for the next President to “reject the politics of fear”, something McCain would never have been accused of during the 2000 campaign but has rapidly been succumbing to as he inches closer to Election Day. Byrd also calls on the next President to accept dissenting opinions and to admit and learn from your mistakes. McCain has a reputation as a maverick wildcard when it comes to toeing the party line in the Senate but, at the same time, a lot of his maverick attitude can be attributed to the distinct presence of inflexible stubbornness. In a sense, the stubbornness that gave birth to “Maverick McCain” may also give birth to “Stubborn McCain” and in the position of President, where the status quo changes on a daily basis, the question is whether McCain will be able to adapt to any changes in circumstance.
Byrd spends a whole chapter calling on the candidates to let the media do their job, and don’t complain about it. It’s a lesson that both could stand to learn. If one had to say the election thus far was about one thing, you could say that it was about the media. McCain says Obama gets all the attention and he’s been left out in the cold. And every time the media makes a negative comment about Obama, his campaign rally against unfair reporting. Gone are the days when candidates would roll with the punches. In this campaign the media are more like a genuine third contender, with the candidates attacking them almost as much as they attack each other. Senator Byrd has been at this a whole lot longer than they have, and if they have a hope of lasting nearly as long as his 50 years of service they would do well to take his advice. The media has a long memory.
When it comes down to it, Byrd’s book has a lot of advice that can be practically applied to either candidate should they be elected to President. But for now, it will all be put on the shelf. It is hard to run a totally virtuous election campaign these days. McCain tried but since then he has realised how hard it is to compete when promoting bipartisan solidarity.
Until the election, all Byrd’s book will do is gather dust.
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