I jumped all over John McCain when he indicated that he is no longer in touch with the common citizen. One of the villagers asked the question, "What politician is in touch with the people?"
I always felt that Coleman Young stayed in touch with the people in Detroit during his time as mayor. He was regularly seen around town. He surrounded himself with some good people. He was unafraid to support Black people in a town that was majority-Black. He was unafraid to speak truth to power. Coleman Young was a politician that I think was in touch with the people.
I always felt that Bill Clinton was in touch with the people during his time as president. Even the mistakes that he made seemed to be mistakes that regular folks would make. I smile at the memories of him stopping in the local McDonalds for a Big Mac. H
e lost a little of his magic during the Democratic primaries this past year ... but, while in office as President, I felt that Bill Clinton was 'feeling our pain'. During times of national tragedgy ... like the bombing of the building in Oklahoma City ... President Clinton understood the pain being felt by all Americans.
Those are the two politicians that I think were in touch with the people.
I'm curious as to your answer to that question. Are there any politicians that you have known on local, state or national level that you felt were 'in touch' with the people? What say u?
I always felt that Coleman Young stayed in touch with the people in Detroit during his time as mayor. He was regularly seen around town. He surrounded himself with some good people. He was unafraid to support Black people in a town that was majority-Black. He was unafraid to speak truth to power. Coleman Young was a politician that I think was in touch with the people.
I always felt that Bill Clinton was in touch with the people during his time as president. Even the mistakes that he made seemed to be mistakes that regular folks would make. I smile at the memories of him stopping in the local McDonalds for a Big Mac. H
e lost a little of his magic during the Democratic primaries this past year ... but, while in office as President, I felt that Bill Clinton was 'feeling our pain'. During times of national tragedgy ... like the bombing of the building in Oklahoma City ... President Clinton understood the pain being felt by all Americans.Those are the two politicians that I think were in touch with the people.
I'm curious as to your answer to that question. Are there any politicians that you have known on local, state or national level that you felt were 'in touch' with the people? What say u?
8 comments:
Have you seen this?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_re_us/obama_effigy;_ylt=AqFB_jVrXPuArSy4i.Lpn.VH2ocA
You may not be able to follow that link, and I'm having trouble getting it to paste.
It can be found under yahoo news stories for today...headline "obama effigy."
Kristi - I had read about the story ... but, your comments caused me to share the information as a blog post so that other villagers would know about it as well. Thank you for sharing the 411.
Who is the politician you think is most in touch with the people?
Politicians I was refering to was from the House on up, on the local level they have no choice but to be amoung the people that elect them. The moment they head to Washington though they seem to lose their mind.
Jimmy Carter was the best president so far. He was the first to incorporate blacks in high office on a much larger scale. He was the only politician sympathetic enough to listen to the Black Panthers. Look at his position today on the Palestinian question.
Mike - Do you have any politicians in your memory at any level that maintained 'touch with the people'?
Eddie - Asante sana for sharing your thoughts on this post. I recall feeling sorry for Jimmy Carter most of the 4-years that he was in office. He always seemed like a 'deer in headlights' up to and including on the last day of his term when the Iran Embassy hostages were released.
I'm glad that he has rehabilitated his image with his work after his term as president ended...
The some politicians may be in touch with the people but the political system is not. For any good elected official to do the job they must dive into a system that is self serving and not accountable to the people. Without a system of accountability with real teeth, you can get away with anything. This is the problem faced here in Detroit. No one is accountable and there is no penalty to you unless you are caught by the legal system. We see it now with the financial situation and the numerous political scandals. The rewards out weigh the penalty and until this changes, why should you stay in touch with the people when you can get rich. Greed is good and serving the public is optional.
Cliff - I feel you on your analysis. In my corporate life we strongly believed that 85% of problems are caused by system problems and not people problems.
That being said ... have you never seen a politician in your life who you felt was 'in touch with the people'?
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