The Right (or Left) Stuff

I am trying to prepare Marra for our conversations with the parade of presidential hopefuls (or their staff members/volunteers) in NH by focusing her on the issues. What are the pressing debates of the day, and how will a president's plans and actions impact her life and the lives of other Americans? Policy positions - I realize that this is only part of the equation, but I am purposely avoiding conversations with her on candidate electability. But what does it really take to win the White House?

My List:

1. "Folksy"-ness: The winning candidate has to make us believe that he/she is one of us, a regular American you might meet at a PTA meeting or the grocery store checkout line. He/she needs to use folksy cliches (i.e. sayings that being with "Well, like my Poppa always used to say..."), be photographed doing folksy things (i.e. eating barbecue or fried chicken, preferably at a State Fair), and occasionally wearing folksy clothing (i.e. jeans with boots - but a flannel shirt doesn't always work, right Lamar Alexander?). This formula explains George Bush's rise to power. Unfortunately for us, these could be the only qualifications he had for the top spot in the free world.
2. Gravitas: This became a popular buzz word during the 2000 campaign, with pundits questioning whether or not W had too much folksiness, at the expense of sufficient gravitas to lead. Gravitas can be demonstrated by a complete resume, or appearing angry during a debate.
3. Sense of humor: Who can forget Ronald Reagan throwing the age issue right back at Mondale during their Presidential debate ("I will not use my opponent's youth and inexperience against him"). Al Sharpton is a bad recent example of taking the sense of humor quality to an extreme, by making himself the joke. This is a good companion quality to folksiness. A candidate with a sense of humor can avoid having controversy stick to him/her, by skillfully deflecting the impact of bad personal revelations with a slick self-deprecating remark.
4. Issue Luck: Luck can be defined as the place where opportunity and preparedness meet. John McCain is suffering from Issue Bad Luck, with immigration and the Iraq surge working in tandem to sink his prospects, seemingly by the hour. Jimmy Carter had Issue Good Luck, being an honest farmer running in the post-Nixonian quagmire of government corruption. He also had the good fortune to run against a guy who didn't think Eastern Europe was under Soviet domination.
5. Plausible Deniability: The winning candidate needs attack personnel that shield him/her from accusations of being "negative". Let everyone else around you be negative, while you are sunshine and blue sky optimism. Having a team of believers around you ready to take the fall for you can save you from ever accepting blame for anything.
6. A Defining Unscripted Moment: I give credit to Joe Klein for this one. In Politics Lost, Klein writes about how candidates in past nomination battles have had singular moments that have helped to define their characters for the public. Remember Ronald Reagan's "I paid for this microphone?" line in 1980, or John Kerry's "I voted for it before I voted against it"? Both moments were pounded into the memories of voters by a media starving to reduce every candidate down to a few manageable clips. Look out, unscripted defining moments cut both ways, but every winner will have a good one we'll all remember.
7. The Most Votes: This one used to be valid, but now you need either the most votes or a better legal team. (Sorry, that was a cheap shot, for laughs and audible groans only)

All this being said, while Marra focuses on position statements, I will be looking for someone who is not only the best on the issues, but has demonstrated either the experience or potential (see "Obama") to implement their programs and lofty strategies. I will be looking for the elusive "leadership" quality that we will hopefully glimpse within one of the candidates in an "unscripted moment" - live and in person, on the streets of New Hampshire October 2007.

JS