NUMBER TEN!
There are some very good reason for paying some close attention to what early candidates in the field are saying. They may be saying things in the early phases which they wouldn't repeat as weeks and months go by.
Senator Robert Graham, Democrat from Florida, dropped his chapeau into the the ring with others seeking the party's nomination for the Presidency ... that one man to be favored by party members to become President of the United States of America.
Senator Graham, you may have noticed, did not follow the script exactly. His exact words, before the crowd of relatives and friends responded to the applause, were: "I am running for the President!” Did he intend to say ..." for the Presidency ”or, maybe he should have read it: “I am running for the office of President”...or, even: “ I am running to become the next President of the U.S of A.”
Unless my hearing aids deceive me mightily, he did not say that. The words which came out, with just a flicker of hesitation and indecision, in the final syllables, created an unwanted image. He gave the idea, unintentionally, of course, that he was in the running now as the tenth candidate on behalf of the present holder of that title. He said: “President” not “Presidency” or “the office of..”
A small, embarrassing detail? Yes, little more that, I'm sure, but that sort of lapse is often found in pre-campaign campaign rhetoric. It can be interesting to tally them up and wonder if they were damaging.
It has been my observing in recent years since TV has come to play such an important role in presenting the potential candidates so far ahead of the actual race, that this is a time to listen to the candidate comment on what they believe. Later on it will be curbed, quartered, and cut to fashion as needed, but during the primary runs we get more honest statements.
I have also felt that the candidates who are most likely to “tell it like it is” ; to state problems and circumstances more realistically. They do so because they feel, deep down, they don't stand the traditional Chinaman's chance of being being nominated, much less elected. Since they can be relatively certain they are not going to be required to make good on such statements. They hold on to their existing friends and gain a few new ones by setting forth such ideas and thus force the others to take a position on which he can. ,in rebuttal, attach comments and questions.
I can remember being impressed during the presidential steeplechase portion of the last national election by a young man named Alan-somebody. He stood no real chance of being nominated and he must have know that to be a fact, The name was Freed, wasn't it? Allen or Alan-someone, anyway. And - he spoke “truth” 'ill it hurt. He did so knowing full well he would never have to back talk with action.
Listen to all ten of the incoming aspirants. By election time you may actually know how they stand as individuals and why. They are being “sifted” right now -”winnowed”, if you will - the valued wheat being parted from the tares, and the old adage applies: “It takes one to know one.”
A.L.M. May 6, 2003 [c892wds]
