Men of the people?
A pair of blue-blooded candidates try to connect with regular folks
White House officials made sure to tell reporters that President Bush went for a bicycle ride and did some fishing on the morning before his big debate with John Kerry last week. Meanwhile, Kerry's staff let it be known that the Democratic challenger relaxed by tossing around a baseball with a few aides. It wasn't a big moment in the campaign, but it was a revealing one. Both sides were trying to foster images of their candidates as just plain folks, men whose private pursuits aren't much different from those of the average Joe.
Of course, those images are more than a bit misleading. Both Bush and Kerry are blue bloods from distinguished New England families, reared in an elite atmosphere of wealth and privilege, attending the best schools, benefiting from the best connections, and bred for a life of success.
There is nothing new in this. Most of the nation's greatest and most popular presidents, after all, were not Horatio Alger types but men of wealth and power, like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. But each found a way to connect with everyday Americans, through FDR's reassuring fireside chats on the radio, for instance, or Kennedy's projection of a new spirit of vigor and deft use of television.
The challenge for Bush and Kerry in the remaining month of the campaign will be to make that same connection, despite their highfalutin backgrounds. So far, Bush has done the job far more effectively. A recent Washington Post- ABC News poll (taken before the debate) found that while 51 percent of likely voters considered Bush personally appealing, only 32 percent felt that way about Kerry. About 45 percent said Bush was honest and trustworthy, while 38 percent applied that description to Kerry.
The Florida debate may have altered that dynamic somewhat. A post-debate focus group conducted by Republican pollster Frank Luntz in Coral Gables, Fla., found that Kerry scored well on personal characteristics such as likability and competence. He had rarely done that before in public-opinion surveys.
After watching the debate, swing voters who made up the panel were asked how the candidates came across in personal terms. Bush won plaudits for steadiness and the clarity of his positions but was widely criticized for giving a disappointing performance and for seeming ill-prepared. Kerry was praised as "empathetic," "more intelligent," and "more gracious" and for showing "more charisma." But given how far behind Kerry was in the personality derby, he faced a greater challenge than Bush in improving his image.
ESTABLISHMENTARIAN
Kerry traces his lineage on his mother's side to John Winthrop, one of the founders of colonial Massachusetts. His father was a U.S. diplomat, and his marriage to Teresa Heinz, heir to a Pennsylvania-based food empire, connected him to one of the largest family fortunes in the country. Kerry and his wife own homes in Boston, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Nantucket, Mass., and Sun Valley, Idaho.
While he wants to connect with "real people" and is attempting to seem more approachable, Kerry can't hide his roots. "He considers himself a patrician," historian and Kerry biographer Douglas Brinkley told U.S. News .
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