The Executive Candidate vs. The Legislative Candidate
ILLUSTRATED: A candidate for executive office must have a decisive, take charge persona. A legislative candidate must identify with the people.
Until January 24 of this year when he dropped out, I was still in John Kerry's camp after four and a half years. That said, Sherrod Brown made an interesting comment that in Ohio, if Kerry ran against Bush for the Senate in '04, Kerry would have won. But Kerry just didn't have the "Commander in Chief" persona.
At this writing, I am still undecided about who to support next time, but I will relay a positive article about Hillary Clinton. David Yepsen praised her debate performance last night and in doing so, wrote an interesting summary of how to run for executive office: Mayor*, governor, president, DA, state Attorney General etc. Specifically he said:
If I were advising a candidate, particularly one who is switching branches, I would make this sports analogy. Imagine you are a pro athlete in the NBA, WNBA, or NFL. Think of the qualities you want in your agent: your advocate, your friend, negotiating your contract, shoe deal, writing your prenup, etc. Now think of the qualities you want in your head coach: not necessarily your friend, but someone you trust to run drills and execute a game strategy so the team wins.
* By mayor I assume you are running in a "strong mayor" city, not one where the mayoralty rotates among city council members (legislators).
Until January 24 of this year when he dropped out, I was still in John Kerry's camp after four and a half years. That said, Sherrod Brown made an interesting comment that in Ohio, if Kerry ran against Bush for the Senate in '04, Kerry would have won. But Kerry just didn't have the "Commander in Chief" persona.
At this writing, I am still undecided about who to support next time, but I will relay a positive article about Hillary Clinton. David Yepsen praised her debate performance last night and in doing so, wrote an interesting summary of how to run for executive office: Mayor*, governor, president, DA, state Attorney General etc. Specifically he said:
- Clinton was crisp, cogent and methodical in her answers. She understood better than any of the other candidates the need for terse answers when so many candidates are given so little time in which to answer questions.
It’s more than just a debating skill. American presidents lead the nation through television appearances and Clinton’s performance Thursday night suggests she can do that. She showed she has mastered the ability to put a lot of information into a few seconds on the tube.
She did that by talking more about solutions instead of yammering about how bad the problems are. Some of her opponents, who’ve had careers in the U.S. Senate or House, couldn’t get to their point before their time was up.
If I were advising a candidate, particularly one who is switching branches, I would make this sports analogy. Imagine you are a pro athlete in the NBA, WNBA, or NFL. Think of the qualities you want in your agent: your advocate, your friend, negotiating your contract, shoe deal, writing your prenup, etc. Now think of the qualities you want in your head coach: not necessarily your friend, but someone you trust to run drills and execute a game strategy so the team wins.
* By mayor I assume you are running in a "strong mayor" city, not one where the mayoralty rotates among city council members (legislators).
posted by Teka Thomas at 2:37 PM
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