re: #152 Targetpractice

Think that’s part of the problem in recent decades. Once upon a time, we voted for a president not based upon whether or not he was a likable guy, but whether he was an effective one. That culminated in Nixon, whom much of the nation voted for not because he was a likable guy (he sure as fuck was not), but because he gave the impression of being better suited for the job than his challengers. Then we found out he was a crooked fuck and that resulted in this massive backlash against the idea of the “Washington insider” and the “professional politician.” Combine that with the rise of Reagan, a B-list celebrity turned politician, and suddenly the idea that we needed somebody who made us “feel good” became the driving philosophy.

As TVs and then the internet became a major part of our lives, the role of the president changed. It used to be you might see the president on TV, or hear him on the radio, a couple times a year. You might read about him in the morning or evening paper, but for the most part, the president was a part of your daily life.

But with the morning news replacing the morning paper, and cable news needing to talk about something all the time, and then the internet needing to talk about ten things at all times, the president has, for better or worse, become a fairly constant presence in our lives. Where it used to be you almost had to go out of your way to find content on the president, now he is everywhere.

It’s actually rational for voters to decide that likability is an important quality, since you’re basically living with this person for the next four years.