Responding to the theory that you can’t really represent poor people and tackle poverty if you live in a big house and splurge on haircuts:
“Would it have been better if I had done well and didn’t care?” –John Edwards.
No, John. The problem isn’t that you care, the problem is that you ‘did well’. Meaning, of course, that you’re stinking rich. And we only want vagrants to represent us and run the federal government…not to mention the largest killing machine ever assembled on land, sea, and in space. You see, the Republicans are suffering from the misimpression that liberals want and trust the guy in the mailroom to switch places with the CEO. What we really want is for the CEO to take a massive cut in pay so the company can afford to provide excellent benefits to the guy in the mailroom. And if the CEO screws up, we want him to be the first person fired (with no golden parachute) rather than hundreds of his or her employees.
The President of the United States has an awesome responsibility and he/she damn well have a track record of successfully running some large organization. That organization does not have to be a large multinational corporation, nor a large law firm. In some cases, the organization can be the presidential campaign itself. In other words, if Barack Obama can run a winning campaign then he has proven himself capable of running the executive branch. But there is a reason beyond their long-winded and stilted speech why senators generally lose presidential elections. We’re electing a leader. And leaders must prove themselves by more than rhetoric…they must lead.
So, no, John. It would not be better if you didn’t care. It’s refreshing that you do. But, if you really want to impress liberals in the primaries you would be smart to lose the conspicuous vanity consumption. It makes us feel like you’re getting paid enough to forget about that guy in the mailroom.