On the Republican side, Ron Paul looks like the most honest candidate. John McCain once looked honest, but has largely lost that appeal. On the Democratic side, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel look the most honest, with Bill Richardson running close. It does not look like any these will succeed in getting the presidential nomination. Instead, one of the usual lying politicians will win. Among third party presidential candidates in recent history, Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan stand out for their honesty.
Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney are pretty comparable big-time, gold-medal Republican liars. And with Romney we might get the first Mormon president, but not an honest one. If Hillary Clinton wins the nomination, then the most dishonest Democratic candidate will have prevailed. As to Barack Obama, he might become the first black president, but based on his statements about his upbringing, universal health care, and campaign funding, he would not be the first honest president. Even worse, he seems to try to sell himself as honest. Liars are bad, but liars claiming to be honest are worse. What seems clear is there will be no honest Republican or Democratic presidential candidate to vote for in 2008.
An honest president would threaten the corrupt, dishonest and rigged two-party political system, so one getting a presidential nomination is improbable. How could an honest person obtain financing for their campaign? How could they get diverse groups to support their candidacy? Candidates tell different groups what pleases them, and eventually contradict themselves. Flip-flopping sounds bad, but is even worse when the new position is a lie.
Some may suggest that a candidate does not have to be honest during campaigning, but only be honest once elected president. But can someone with real character find it easy to lie repeatedly during campaigning and then have the ability to stop lying once elected? I think not. Besides, how can citizens detect the potential honest president if that person is behaving like all normal lying candidates during campaigns? A truly honest person must stand out and be seen as exceptional by the public because of their habitual honesty. Much of the appeal of Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich is their perceived honesty. But the candidates most likely to succeed attract supporters for their policy positions, promises or ability to win, despite not being seen as honest. That makes their supporters delusional. They lie to themselves to justify their support.
Article comments
1 - Brent
I think you might be proven wrong, hopefully we get an honest politician (also known as a statesman) into the white house! Ron Paul has turned some heads, hopefully hell turn enough to win the nomination :)
2 - Dave Nalle
I'm inclined to think that the idea of 'objective truth' is somewhat illusory. All of the candidates are serving some 'higher truth' as they envision it, and some of them are probably deluded enough to think that their version of the truth is the one and absolute version.
I'd rather have someone who tries to do his best and doesn't think he has the revealed truth on his side than someone so self-righteous as to think there's one truth and he's the conduit for it.
Dave
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
I anxiously await the next Hirschhorn article: why do hot chicks always go for douchebags?
4 - El Bicho
Rather than wait for the next article, you could always ask Skye.
5 - TheOneLaw
Wow!
Joel, You won't win many popularity contests with this kind of penetrating analysis.
I wish you were a little more mainstream, but then I guess you wouldn't stand out as much if everyone else were as honest about sheeple and their choices.
Tip of the tinfoil hat and a big round of
Cheers from the Ron Paul rEVOLution.
6 - Zedd
Joel,
Your expectations in general seem to be excessively high and idealistic. The politicians of this race are not lying. They are marketing themselves. They are stating what they want to do, what their intent is. Some questions are difficult to answer because they are complex but because we want a yes or no answer, they end up seeming to waffle when all they are trying to do is give us the truth.
The real problem is that we don't know how to tell reality from theater. You are expecting these real human beings who experience unimaginable hours on the road, talking, meeting, brainstorming, stopping and starting to be concise and lucid always. They go through grueling schedules that most of us wouldn't be able to tolerate. We expect them to be like cartoons. We want candidates to be mentally sharp under such circumstances, know everything and give us a simple yes or no answer to complicated issues that require an intelligent nuanced response.
These are all overachievers. You don't really want to know what they think. They would probably say that we are all a bunch of dumb, lazy losers who need to get off of our bums and get a life.
7 - Matthew T. Sussman
Okay, that one was good.
8 - JD
You nailed it Mr. Hirschhorn.
It all begins with integrity and honesty above all. When that is not transparent, you get the government you deserve.
It is too easily dismissed and ignored and lacking it is not being judgmental or moralistic. It is the basis of sound thinking
9 - moonraven
The US electorate is not honest.
Why should a dishonest electorate merit an honest president?
Doesn't make any sense at all.
Remember, you gringos live in a REPRESENTATIVE democracy--that means that it MIRRORS you.
Hypocrisy gives me a pain in my lovely butt.
10 - gonzo marx
well well, finally something new from Joel...decent Article...
/golfclap
i may not Agree with all of it, but a vast improvement over the many previous bits of drivel
Excelsior?
11 - Mark Schannon
Hey, boys and girls, I'm baaaaack.
Heya, Gonzo. Hi there Dave & Matt. I find myself breathless, stunned, stupified, but I actually agree with most of what Moonraven said. I'm trying to cut down on drinking, but it's 3:54...close enough to 6 for me.
We do get the politicians we deserve, and I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say we're all liars here in the great United States, but a hell of a lot of us are so self-centered and devoid of any ethical foundation that anyone appealing to our selfish needs usually gets our vote.
Phew, that's more than I've written in ages.
(Still screwed up, but heading off to Cleveland Clinic where the mandarins and wizards promise to either cure what's ailing me or give me a new brain. I guess I'll have to change my moniker to "The Scarecrow."
And remember, boys and girls,
In Jameson Veritas
The Curmudgeon at Large
12 - Dave Nalle
Nice to see you 'round the old place again, Mark. Good luck with the medical muggery. I bet it's all about hormones.
Dave
13 - Mark Schannon
Jesus, Moonie, you make me wish I hadn't agreed with you...sigh.
In Jameson Veritas
Curmudgeon at Large
14 - moonraven
Then DON?T agree with me.
I couldn't possibly care less.
15 - pawelek
It is obvious that Gravel has all the right answers to our problems and to talk about anyone else is boring. Gravel is like a superhero. he should get the Nobel peace prize, the medal of honor, and a mountain carved in his image. Take your heads out of the sand these other people do not even deserve consideration they are boring and unispired. Do something creative america are you not bored of the stagnation and artistic wasteland. Liven up the world get Gravel in the picture make your life worth living.
16 - Marcia L. Neil
Something else to wonder and worry about during the Presidential campaigns -- a business card posted on a city map in a Chinese-theme restaurant in Martin County, FL, that shows a head-shot of a woman that exactly resembles the 'Hillary Clinton' shown in televised newscasts (with hair parted on the opposite side).