More than words

Americans, especially on the right, despise “politicians.” Politicians have messed up Washington enough, so why not promote someone for president who’s not an officeholder, like Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, or Ben Carson? All three are gaining traction in the race for the Republican nomination, and for the first two that’s mostly because of what comes out of their mouths. Prospective voters like what they say. But here’s a warning, early in the game: Words aren’t everything.

We think we know that already. Everybody expects politicians to make promises they can’t keep, or have no intention of keeping—right? That’s just the name of the game. Still, voters can get awfully excited over a speech or a debate performance: “He killed it!” “She knocked it out of the park!” “Score one for our team!” Remember the ecstatic audiences swooning over Barack Obama’s speeches back in 2008, praising his oratory and hopeful vision.

Just words, as it turned out.

But words seem to be driving Trump’s popularity now: It’s not what he’s done but what he says. Talk-show callers enthuse, “He tells it like it is!” “We’re sick of mealymouthed politicians!” They answer for the man’s failings and inconsistencies, if they answer at all, with, “He’s evolved.” But Trump’s checkered political past and freewheeling campaign style indicates he would govern the same way: off the top of his head, with no philosophy that anyone, including himself, can discern. Just like Obama’s pre-2008 record of voting “present” and taking no controversial stands (except for partial-birth abortion) indicated he would “lead from behind” but fight to the mat for far-left policies

Fiorina is a tougher case. I like her. I’m not the only one: Even before the first Republican primary debates, conservative political junkies held her in high regard, and her stock has risen steadily since. Few presidential hopefuls—actually none, this cycle—match her ability to think on her feet and articulate her positions in an understandable way. Few could render Chris Matthews speechless or present a forceful-yet-affable case for the unborn on The View. She’s a pleasure to listen to, but we must also consider what she’s done, and here the picture gets murky.

Fiorina rocked the business world once when she rose to be CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and again when she was fired. That, and a creative but unsuccessful bid for one of California’s U.S. Senate seats in 2010, is her public record. Her tenure at HP calls for careful sorting-out: There’s her version, and the judgment of the business world at the time. Now that she’s a more serious contender for the White House, the hit pieces will keep on coming. What’s more troubling to me is that first-hand witnesses say HP employees, including those closest to Fiorina, hated her. That might be simply because she was making tough-but-necessary decisions. Or it could indicate a personality flaw that will compromise her ability to lead.

Great politicians don’t always make great statesmen, but governing a representative democracy is a political game, and an effective leader must know how to play.