A Guy You Could Have a Beer With

Watching the debates (a sometimes painful experience), or more accurately, the post-game analysis (which could benefit from a little John Madden, frankly), I keep hearing this recurring theme of how the candidates "scored" with respect to their grasp of the issues, their facts, etc., and their "likeability."

There must be something to this.  Watching the little graphic that CNN has running below the shot of the candidates talking, the one that shows the reaction of supposedly uncommitted voters to what's being said (kind of like a polygraph, I guess), I'm left with the impression that a candidate could say, "Yada, yada, yada, and yada," and the line would still move.  And these people will vote.  God save us all.

And I also hear people say, "He has good experience," or "He has a grasp of the issues," or "I like his stance on Issue X," but then they'll add - "But is he the kind of guy I could have a beer with?"

Are you kidding me?  Really?  Do any of us thing we stand a snowball's chance in Death Valley of having a beer with the Prez?

And honestly, is the kind of guy we'd have a beer with the guy we want to be President?  I mean, I've had beers with a lot of guys in my lifetime, and I have to say that none of them (no offense to my friends here) is someone that I'd want having their finger on the red button.

Especially after a couple of beers.

And I assume they feel the same way about me, which is fine.  (For the record, no one has ever suggested that I run for office.  A few of my friends have said they'd like to have me as Fed Chairman, a role in which, of course, I'd be stellar.

But seriously.  My good friend Steve, with whom I downed a few beers a couple of weeks back when I was in Denver on business (spreading my usual economic doom and gloom for a client), was emailing me not long ago about how he wished he ran the country.  And our discourse on that topic led to our Grand Plan of having matching leotards, complete with capes that would have our nicknames on them (Pogo and Thor, in case you were wondering - he's Pogo, I'm Thor, and you don't need to know why), and we'd have Big Wheels on which we'd tear through the halls of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Fun stuff for Pogo and Thor, not so much for the rest of you, I'm afraid.

I don't want a guy who I'd like to have a beer with to be President.  I want a guy (or gal, makes no difference to me) who knows what they're doing, has the character to do it while upholding and not embarrassing the office, and will comport him- or herself in accordance with the task at hand.  If he or she would be a total bore, or boor, or bear, to have a beer with, so be it.  I'm good with that.

However, this seems to be a matter of no small import to many voters (shudders and face-palms), so I'll weigh in.  Bear in mind that I'm not a fan of President Obama, so maybe this colors my view of his likeability.  On the other hand, I'm about the most objective guy I know - at least in my opinion.

Much has been made of Romney's gaffe about the 47%.  But really, how different is that from Obama's infamous comment four years back about people "clinging to their guns and their God?"  In fact, Barry seems to have this arrogant elitist view of much of the American populace - and maybe the rest of the world.  Remember when he spent some of his supporters' money on the campaign trail to visit his long-lost granny in Kenya?  He hadn't seen her since childhood, but he took time from his busy campaign schedule to pay her a visit (on someone else's dime, of course).

And what did he do with his time with her?  Had a few photos taken, and split.

I've been to Africa, and I know how people live there.  I understand that Granny O is very poor, like many Africans.  But Barry didn't bring her gifts, or leave her with some cash, or even spend the day catching up.  He got a photo op, and he moved on.

He did the same thing when he visited Elkhart, IN not long after he was elected.  He went there to talk about all the people who were out of work, and who had to go to food pantries.  He stood outside a factory and gave a pretty speech.  Then he split.

In response, I actually found one of the Elkhart food pantries, and sent them a check.  I figured if our President was going to use them for a photo op, I'd at least help them out a bit if I could.

Romney, on the other hand, can tell you stories (corroborated by people who've known him for a long time) about how he used personal funds to help people in his congregation that were in need when he was a pastor, or how he visited people in the hospital, just to visit them - no cameras, no reporters, just a guy caring about his fellow man.

So which guy would I rather have a beer with?  The one who would take the time to actually talk to me over that beer, to get to know me, to inquire about how I was doing and how my family was?  Or the guy who'd have the White House press corps there, snapping pics while he smiled and put his arm around my shoulders and hoisted his mug - then left me with the tab?