Likability is important — but so is substance
AUSTIN – I’ve enjoyed talking with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. I’ve even had a beer with him (sort of ). Likability isn’t what this election should be about, but it matters.
Presidential elections always address the likability factor. Which candidate best appeals to voters’ let-down-their-hair side? Who’d be fun to talk with over beers?
George W. Bush? In 2000, of course (even though he doesn’t drink). Al Gore? Maybe not.
Sometimes likability can ebb and flow.
Barack Obama drew giant crowds in 2008, inspiring voters with his message of change while Hillary Clinton trudged along, trying to make headway with policy pronouncements.
But Obama dealt himself a setback in that first race when the likability question was broached in a debate and he volunteered, dismissively, “You’re likable enough, Hillary.”
Snubbed by Bush
For Cruz, the slam on his personal appeal goes well beyond his public image as a Senate bomb-thrower who has aggravated-to-enraged his fellow Republican officeholders.
It goes beyond his positions on issues that should be at the heart of this election, like his opposition to abortion, his fight against the federal health care law, his press for gun rights in the face of mass shootings, his opposition to gay marriage, his hard line on refugees and immigration, his disbelief in the science of climate change and his vow of a carpet-bomb campaign against terrorists in the Middle East that will reveal “if sand can glow in the dark.”
It’s fed by some former colleagues from his work in the first Bush campaign who saw him as a beyond-the-pale selfpromoter, and by his freshman roommate in college whose dislike is so enduring that he’d rather pick a president out of the phone book.
Even George W. Bush made headlines when he said, “I just don’t like the guy.” Bush’s brother is running his own faltering campaign, but it’s not the type of thing you expect the former president to say.
It has become almost expected for people to talk about Cruz’s likeability problem, even when praising him.
Former Gov. Rick Perry, who ditched his own presidential campaign, gave a nod to the matter on Fox News, saying a leader should be humble, courageous and grateful.
“Sen. Cruz has two of those three,” said Perry. “I always tell him … you could do a little bit better on the humility side from time to time.”
‘I will get the job done’
Cruz examined his own likability in his book “A Time for Truth,” laying out his concerted effort to become popular kid and as an adult, his slight by the Bush team. He said the latter forced him to realize he needed “to treat others with greater respect and humility.”
In an October debate, he acknowledged the issue while giving it a positive spin.
“If you want someone to grab a beer with, I may not be that guy. But if you want someone to drive you home, I will get the job done and I will get you home,” he said.
Whether voters are willing for him to be the designated driver is yet to be seen, but he has some advantages.
He has support from many evangelical conservatives and those who identify with the tea party, whose views he champions, and is making an effort to present a softer side as he pursues the GOP nomination. A fresh Iowa poll shows him with what the Des Moines Register described as “sky-high image numbers” among likely Republican caucus-goers, with 73 percent viewing him positively.
He knows how to deal with the media, despite criticizing us. He was a great candidate to cover during his underdog race for the U.S. Senate, willing to sit down for big swaths of time and talk through his positions and how his life shaped them.
After taking office, he sat down with reporters over beers (I was there, though beer-less) and talked about everything from his Washington strategy to his affinity for “The Princess Bride.”
Since, he has publicly reenacted a scene from that movie (likable!) and while disdainful of the media in public remarks, has made gestures including giving his jacket to a shivering reporter for a conservative publication (likable, unless you’d prefer that all reporters freeze).
A clear decision
It’s nice for candidates to be likable, and it can make a winning difference. It would be better for them to ensure the public discourse is respectful and fact-based. It’s most important for voters to be able to make a clear decision about the issues that will affect our lives.
Maybe that’s something Clinton and Cruz can agree on, should they win their respective parties’ nominations.
Clinton expressed it this way in 2008: “We need to know as specifically as possible what our next president intends to do. We don’t need a leap of faith, we don’t need to have a beer with the next president. We had that president.”