When you watch Trump with the sound off, you can see that he projects very strongly. Obama did as well, and so did George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. When I watch Biden with the sound off, there is nothing happening. Kamala Harris is even worse. She looks sad and very uncertain.
St. Paul did not mean faith came by "hearing about something" in the sense of learning about it. He literally meant that faith came from hearing the spoken word. In Biblical times, hearing the spoken word meant a person was in the immediate presence of the speaker. He was saying that reading his letters would not bring people to faith. Hearing preaching would. People change when they observe conviction and confidence, communicated by tone of voice, posture, and gestures. Trump reading a teleprompter was Trump going through the motions. Trump was real at his rallies. That is what moved opinion.
I am presenting a video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as an example of political communication. It came to mind because the contrast with Biden is so profound. I am not anti-Biden. Biden is not dangerous, and Trump was, and is. That is dispositive for me. Presidential scholar Richard Neustadt observed that "the power of the president is the power to persuade." I have watched Biden on TV the past 48 hours, saying important things about an improving economy and announcing a redirection in our struggle to contain COVID. He read weakly from a teleprompter. All the passion is stripped out.
I am uncomfortable with AOC's politics. She is more liberal, progressive and urban-oriented than is the country as a whole. She does not appear to appreciate the power of capitalism to create material abundance, and that turns off a great many Americans. She does not communicate bridges to people comfortable with traditional values. She pushes the edge. She is young. Maybe America will catch up with her.
The denoted message of the video below is the list of 21 things she rattled off in rapid fire. The real message--the one that matters--is that amid the overall sense that Democrats are hobbled by division and gridlock and COVID's slow grind, AOC is making positive changes with energy and optimism and joy. She is doing her job and things are happening!
She changes the narrative. Biden cannot do that. None of the 20+ Democrats I saw in New Hampshire or Iowa did it. Some Democrat had better get going on that.
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLQXI2W-3gE |
7 comments:
AOC is the North Star for my two sons in their 40s. Although she is not likely to e a candidate for president, her endorsement of the Democratic candidate is all they needed to get on board. Everybody has troubles and concerns. What people are looking for is someone to lead with a plan to do something to address and remedy the situation. Action along with rhetoric is what it takes with passion.
It’s true that what people say and how they say it are both important. Trump presented himself as angry or smug. His fans interpreted it as forceful and confident. As Peter said, he was most himself ranting and raving at his rallies. Biden has a speech impediment and detractors with no shame like to mock him for it. To America’s credit, he was elected anyway because the only option was so repugnant.
What’s hard to understand is how we wound up with a choice between two geriatric white guys, but thankfully the one we elected was at least a decent human being.
Trump is sizzle, Biden is steak.
I LOVE her. Her enthusiasm and energy are cathartic to our decadent and increasingly fascist polity. My hopes for my grandkids are greatly boosted by her apparent success as a congressperson. She brings civilization to policy and our nation. AOC is the future, I hope we don’t screw it all up before her generation gets into real power.
I haven't watched the President much lately, if at all, but have heard him frequently on the radio, and have come to think hearing him without video is closely akin to watching withe sound turned off. To my ear, he often sounds not necessarily whiny, but weak, pleading for sanity about COVID, masking and getting vaccinated. Has he sound this way his entire career? Or is it merely a sign of his aging ?
AOC’s problem is that, according to polls, her far left agenda is supported by approximately 8% of the American people.
Amazing that a young woman like Miss Ocasio Cortez could take on the South Bronx and work with the 44% poverty rate , the lowest in the city, that rages in these streets. Even the so called Empowerment Zones set up under Clinton have brought money to builders but the residents do not work in these capitalist creations. They commute out of the zone for jobs and the worker in the large corporations that have found themselves in the South Bronx hire outside the zone. I worked in the South Bronx as a welfare worker in the late 1960’s. It looked and smelled like a bombed out city. Junkies, violence, and dead end souls and their children lived the “ghetto”life. Poor then poor now. So exciting to see a young person with such enthusiasm for helping the people in the worst section of New York City. You go, girl. Need some young lefties with guts and vision in Medford and Grants Pass, and yes Cave Junction.
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