Kerry Just Looks More Presidential

Vol. I, Issue 1
October 2004

Forget everything you know about John Kerry and George Bush. Forget all the policy arguments. Forget the fact that the Bush took the country to war unnecessarily. Forget that WMD's were never found in Iraq. Forget that Bush managed to turn the post-9/11 worldwide sympathy for the U.S. into worldwide antipathy. Forget that Bush's economic policies drove the country into recession. Forget that the Bush administration is rolling back environmental protections. Forget how the Bush administration has been shredding the constitution with the Guantanamo detentions and the PATRIOT act.

Just ask yourself one thing: Who looks more presidential?

If you watched the presidential debates¹, you got one of the first opportunities to see the candidates side by side -- unfiltered, unspinned, undramatized. Which candidate looked like he should represent the strongest, most powerful nation on Earth? Which candidate sounded like the leader of the free world²? Who would you prefer to be the face and voice of your country? Do you want your candidate to fumble for words; to glare and smirk; to keep repeating the same thing over and over? Or do you want a candidate with a commanding presence -- someone who is articulate and thoughtful -- someone who makes you proud to be an American?

Do you want your president to be perceived as a man of thought and reflection -- someone who makes decisions based on fact and logic and isn't afraid to admit his mistakes? Or do you want a bull-headed president who always thinks he's right, even when the facts show otherwise? A president so committed to his partisan agenda he refuses to acknowledge the reckless endangerment his policies bring to the American people.

The issues are important, and I'm not trying to discount them in this race. But at the end of the day, don't you also want a president who makes you feel proud? Can you honestly say you're proud of how Bush represented the U.S. during his three and a half years? Wouldn't it be nice to have a statesman in the White House again? Wouldn't it be great to have our president be thought of as the most commanding presence in the world?

Contrary to what some of Bush's supporters want people to believe, being a good public speaker IS an important part of being president. The president is the personification of the United States to the rest of the world. If the president is rambling, incoherent and scowling³, what does that say about us? This isn't judging a book by its cover, an important part of being president is articulately advocating American beliefs; presenting a confident and reassuring presence to the American people; and demonstrating to the world that America is run by the best and the brightest. Bush doesn't convey any of those things. His malapropisms (the world now calls them Bushisms), his mumbling speech and his arrogant demeanor are an embarrassment to America -- to say nothing of his policies. Kerry doesn't just bring better ideas and a fresh approach to leading the country; he presents them in a way that makes people proud to support him and proud to be Americans.

We all deserve to be proud Americans again. We need Kerry to be the next president so we can hold our heads up high and rejoin the global community. Our national dignity depends on it.