Celebrity Is No Substitute For Competence

The 2008 campaign—and its coverage by the media has been disturbing in one major way: the excessive emphasis being paid to aspects of PERSONALITY that probably have no bearing whatsoever on how the individuals involved will govern if elected.

Sarah Palin winked too much during the debate. Joe Biden’s emotional moment during the exchange “connected” with voters. John McCain never looked Obama in the eye. Barack seems aloof and elite.

Please.

Problem is, those personality aspects in the age of TV perhaps have all too much influence on whom we will vote for. God help us if TV had been around 150 years ago!

No matter your political affiliation, most people would put Abraham Lincoln at or near the top of America’s greatest Presidents. Yet, if Lincoln were alive today (or if TV had been around in the 1860’s) he wouldn’t have been elected dog catcher. Visually unappealing, probably awkward in movement, Honest Abe wouldn’t stand a chance.

So why is it that intelligence, competence, experience or ability to articulate thoughts (and perhaps HAVING thoughts in the first place) seem to hold little or no cache among voters?

I don’t need to have a beer with the next Chief Executive. I don’t CARE which sports teams he/she roots for. The next Commander-In-Chief can be a real S.O.B. for all I care. All I really care about is: Are they up to the job? Does he have the judgment, temperament and intelligence-and courage to lead?

Can you possible imagine the following scenario?

You are going into the hospital to be operated on for a brain tumor. Here below is your conversation with your primary care physician re: your choice of surgeon:

“I’m looking to be operated on by someone I can really ‘connect with’ ya know? I want someone who can really relate to the other people in the operating room. If they were first in their class at Harvard Medical School, they’re probably a bit too elite for me, ya know?
I want a “regular guy” who’s got some street smarts-someone I would go bowling with.
They have to understand me as a PERSON, what my life is like and where my priorities are. I’m sure they’ll be ready to complete the operation as soon as they arrive at the hospital—so what if they don’t know all those crazy Latin names for parts of the body? That stuff is boring…..”

Sound familiar?