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October 10, 2004

"It takes a strong man to admit when he's wrong..."

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter finds the swagger and and arrogance of the Bush Administration a liability not only with other nations, but with the vaunted "security moms" that he needs to attract:

President Bush's problem going into the homestretch was crystallized in his final answer in last Friday's debate, when a woman named Linda Grabel asked him if he could name three "wrong decisions" he had made and what he'd done to correct them. You could tell from the tone of the question that Grabel wasn't looking for more rehearsed policy lines, just some sense of humility from her president. Admitting even one mistake would have sufficed. But Bush has decided that he cannot afford reflection, that it looks weak, so he launched into yet another harangue defending his war policy. "When they ask about mistakes, that's what they're talking about," he said, as if Linda was just another one of "them"—a critic with a gotcha question about Iraq. He said that he made some mistakes in appointments (Paul O'Neill, fired for telling the truth about the cost of tax cuts? Larry Lindsey, fired for candor about the cost of the war?), but he wouldn't name names. With that answer, a freshly baked humble pie is now on the table. The newest campaign issue—especially for women voters—is whether this president will ever taste it.

I'm not sure Alter is correct that moms in general find that swagger/arrogance to be so offensive. Some women are clearly attracted to that and it makes them feel safe...untouchable. I know women who date and marry men who ooze from their pores that same sort of Bush-like persona.

I think it has more to do with some people (be they male or female)who respond to fear based rhetoric. It's soothing to them to have a figure in authority tell them the boogeyman can't harm them because the tough guy is standing watch.

What the Bush Team really doesn't seem to understand is that no man is perfect and no man can go through the job of President of the United States without making mistakes. It's not only human, it's inherent in the job. The best of our Presidents, when they made mistakes, admitted to them and did what they could to correct them.

I do think Alter touches on the idea that rings true in the end:

"...it takes a strong man to admit when he's wrong..."

It takes an even stronger man to work to fix his mistakes and make them right.

Posted by Carla at October 10, 2004 08:35 PM