Jonathan Alter: Wrong Time for an Urban Cowboy? (Giuliani)
Presidential elections are said to be about the future, but they also end up as verdicts on the past. Voters often reject the type of leadership they have recently experienced. In 1960, young JFK was the antidote to dowdy Ike. In 1976, Jimmy ("I'll never lie to you") Carter campaigned to wipe away the stain left by Richard Nixon. In 1980, sunny Ronald Reagan tapped into disgust with the malaise of the Carter years. In 2000, George W. Bush took on not just Al Gore, but Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
The reason the 2008 campaign favors Democrats—at least for now—is that Bush has failed so badly that the next president may be the one who resembles him least. Job One in 2009 will be reviving the prestige of the United States, which is a prerequisite for confronting nuclear threats, jihadists, climate change—you name it—none of which can tackled by Americans acting alone.
So to be effective, Bush's successor must be a tough-minded but flexible and humble chief executive with a talent for building bridges, not burning them. For instance, preventing terrorism is less a matter of war than a subtle diplomatic challenge involving international coordination and a convincing projection of Western values. It's a group activity, which means that the next commander in chief will need a Tom Sawyer-like skill in getting other kids in the global neighborhood to paint the fence. This requires charm and leadership.
Which brings us to Rudy Giuliani. On one level, his consistent lead in the polls makes perfect sense. The trauma of 9/11 still moves through the national bloodstream like a time-release capsule. For many Americans, it was the most significant public event of their lifetimes. If Gen. William Henry Harrison could be elected in 1840 on the strength of his victory over Indian "terrorists" at the Battle of Tippecanoe three decades earlier, the cataclysmic events of 2001 might yet make "America's Mayor" president, whatever his views on other issues.
But from a different angle, Giuliani's leadership style seems out of sync with history's pendulum. Why would voters want to replace a my-way-or-the-highway Texan with a shut-up-and-listen New Yorker? Exchange a Crawford cowboy for an urban cowboy? A woman, African-American, Hispanic, Mormon or Vietnam POW would represent a sharper break from the immediate past....
Read entire article at Newsweek
The reason the 2008 campaign favors Democrats—at least for now—is that Bush has failed so badly that the next president may be the one who resembles him least. Job One in 2009 will be reviving the prestige of the United States, which is a prerequisite for confronting nuclear threats, jihadists, climate change—you name it—none of which can tackled by Americans acting alone.
So to be effective, Bush's successor must be a tough-minded but flexible and humble chief executive with a talent for building bridges, not burning them. For instance, preventing terrorism is less a matter of war than a subtle diplomatic challenge involving international coordination and a convincing projection of Western values. It's a group activity, which means that the next commander in chief will need a Tom Sawyer-like skill in getting other kids in the global neighborhood to paint the fence. This requires charm and leadership.
Which brings us to Rudy Giuliani. On one level, his consistent lead in the polls makes perfect sense. The trauma of 9/11 still moves through the national bloodstream like a time-release capsule. For many Americans, it was the most significant public event of their lifetimes. If Gen. William Henry Harrison could be elected in 1840 on the strength of his victory over Indian "terrorists" at the Battle of Tippecanoe three decades earlier, the cataclysmic events of 2001 might yet make "America's Mayor" president, whatever his views on other issues.
But from a different angle, Giuliani's leadership style seems out of sync with history's pendulum. Why would voters want to replace a my-way-or-the-highway Texan with a shut-up-and-listen New Yorker? Exchange a Crawford cowboy for an urban cowboy? A woman, African-American, Hispanic, Mormon or Vietnam POW would represent a sharper break from the immediate past....