The media is very good at criticizing Democrats for their alleged "character" or personality quirks GÇô whether itGÇÖs Clinton for womanizing, Gore for sighing, Kerry for flip-flopping, or (most recently) Webb for being GÇ£taciturn.GÇ¥ But rarely does the media ever focus on the character strengths of Democrats or character flaws of Republicans.Yet after watching last nightGÇÖs debate between Andy Hurst and Tom Davis, I was struck by the contrast between the personalities of these two men, and how that distinction favors Andy GÇô the Democrat. What most sticks in my mind was how differently Hurst and Davis treated the third man on the stage, a taxi driver named Ferdinando Greco, who was running as the GÇ£Independent GreenGÇ¥ candidate.
Davis treated Greco as he treats everyone who doesnGÇÖt happen to be a wealthy lobbyist or power broker GÇô with disdain. He completely ignored Mr. GrecoGÇÖs existence.
Hurst, on the other hand, treated Greco with both warmth and respect. When Greco was stumped by a question on one of the many issues he didnGÇÖt have a clue about, Hurst patted him on the shoulder. When Greco noted that he doesnGÇÖt have health insurance and joked that if heGÇÖs elected, at least three more Americans will get covered GÇô namely him, his wife and kid GÇô Andy laughed and said "At least youGÇÖre honest!" And at the end, Andy appealed to people whether they plan to vote for him or Davis GÇ£or even Ferdinando.GÇ¥ In other words, Andy Hurst acted like one human being to another. If thatGÇÖs not character, what is?
In contrast to AndyGÇÖs infectious smile and bubbly personality, Tom Davis was as cold as January in Toronto. He wore a scowl through the entire debate. Whenever Hurst nailed him on an issue, Davis showed his discomfort with body language that would make Al Gore blush.
What bothered me most about Davis, though, was his underhanded attack on Hurst in his closing statement, at a point at which Hurst had no opportunity to respond. Davis pounced on Hurst with the charge that Andy has brought only "partisanship" to the race. This from a leader in the same Republican party that is running a coordinated, nationwide campaign to accuse their opponents of being a bunch of treasonous terrorist sympathizers.
Really, after the Republicans have spent the last decade deliberately ripping the country in half to energize their supporters, how can any Republican have the chutzpah to attack a Democrat for being partisan? It was vintage Davis, whose character reminds one not of the man he hopes to follow to the U.S. Senate GÇô the gentlemanly John Warner GÇô but rather of one Richard M. Nixon: dark, brooding, derisive, bitter.
The difference between these two candidates' characters makes a powerful case to replace Tom Davis with Andy Hurst. Because we need the type of leaders who will notice, respect and care about the taxi drivers, the unknown, invisible people of our world.
What does Greco do? I heard him mention he drove a taxi, but I didn't catch on that he was a taxi driver - is that right? Interesting for somebody who has a physics major from GMU. Anyways, also beside the point.
As for Hurst patting him on the shoulder, I actually thought that was extremely condescending. I can definitely see your viewpoint, but that's not how I interpreted it at all. Regardless, not a big deal.
Regardless, I thought everybody got along just fine. It was a very civil debate, all three parties followed the rules with no questions/complaints.
His one cogent answer was when he discussed how much fuel he saved when he switched from the Crown Vic to the Ford Escape. Then he had trouble multiplying 8 gallons per day by half million. Everyone else in the audience was aware he was a cab driver.
It was a civil debate--and I believe all the Davis camp wanted to do was get out of there with out any major screw ups, and it showed--Davis canned answers(trying to look like a professional politician) went right over everyone's head. Andy speaks in terms that most people, even those not involved in politics can understand.