Will America’s Head-Spinning Presidential Race Hinge on Character?

Will America’s Head-Spinning Presidential Race Hinge on Character?
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

There are so many twists and turns in this year’s presidential race that it can make your head spin – metaphorically, of course. The epicenter of the “spin” is up for debate – is it impatient reportage, flawed communications, a demonstrable lack of character, or all of the above?

Take Hillary Clinton’s recent bout of overheating and dehydration following a 9/11 ceremony on Sunday in New York City. No, wait, pneumonia – diagnosed on Friday, 9/9, two days prior, but never released publicly. Images of Clinton, physically held upright by her security detail to prevent falling down outside a Secret Service van, replayed over and over on network news. Then, a tour de force, emerging, hours later, all smiles, for a brief walkabout outside daughter Chelsea Clinton’s New York apartment, proclaiming it “a beautiful day in New York,” and stopping mid-stroll for a quick picture with an adorable little girl who broke away from the crowd to hug the candidate.

The careening storyline caught the attention of President Obama’s former chief campaign strategist and senior advisor David Axelrod, in his now infamous tweet: “Antibiotics can take care of pneumonia. What’s the cure for an unhealthy penchant for privacy that repeatedly creates unnecessary problems,” a direct shot across the bow at the veil of secrecy around the former Secretary’s health.

At first, the high road from Republican nominee for President Donald Trump. Queried about Mrs. Clinton’s condition, Trump said: “I just hope she gets well and gets back on the trail and we’ll see her at the debate.” But, later, Wednesday night, at a rally in an overheated Canton, Ohio venue that Trump described as “a beautiful room that’s 122 degrees,” he took aim: “I don’t know, folks, do you think Hillary would be able to stand up here for an hour and do this? I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t think so.” Then, an attempt to recoup, “…in all fairness, she’s lying in bed getting better, and we want her better, we want her back on the trail. Right? We want her back on the trail.”

It’s hard not to blame - us. All the dodging and darting followed by the digs, they are an attempt to appeal to an expectation and fear the electorate have about the health and wellness of their next Commander-in-Chief. A Sept. 14 article in Fortune shares poll findings in which the delay by Clinton’s staff to reveal her pneumonia diagnosis “play[s] into a narrative about her transparency and trustworthiness,” with 50% of respondents believing that Clinton provided “false information about her personal health to the public,” and “37% say[ing] the same of Trump.”

Voters’ valid concerns about health – wanting detailed information about presidential candidates’ medical status – is spilling into voters’ prior concerns about trust and character, with both nominees viewed as evasive, at best, or deceptive, at worst, about disclosing their full medical histories. According to Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a must-read website for all election watchers run by noted political analyst Dr. Larry J. Sabato and the University of Virginia Center for Politics, “the public views both candidates so poorly [that] coverage often focuses on their negatives (Trump’s [perceived] lack of qualification for office and controversial statements versus Clinton’s [perceived] lack of transparency and ethical challenges).”

In what Sabato and fellow analysts aptly characterize as “this strange race for president…one…notably different from any other in the modern period,” one pre-election question looms large. To what extent will character issues affect voters’ choice of America’s next president? As the election year roller coaster continues to rocket across the rails, buckle up, and consider the sage counsel of columnist Peggy Noonan, a primary speech writer and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan: “In a president, character is everything. …a vision is worth little if a president doesn’t have the character – the courage and heart – to see it through.”

Is what's happening keeping pace with what's public?
Is what's happening keeping pace with what's public?
yahoo.com

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot