Candidates focus on being just plain folks

[papau]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/bush/articles/2004/08/09/candidates_focus_on_being_just_plain_folks/

Candidates focus on being just plain folks
By David Bauder, Associated Press | August 9, 2004

NEW YORK -- Roland Martin has reeled in a big one for his weekly fishing show on the Outdoor Life Network.

Baiting a hook beside him recently on a dock in Crawford, Texas, was President George W. Bush, whose afternoon casting for bass was chronicled for "Fishing With Roland Martin" in an episode that first aired on Friday. (It airs again on Wednesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m.)

If you're wondering what the leader of the free world is doing fishing on an obscure cable TV show, you don't know politics. In a tight campaign, candidates seek any edge they can get, and find it all over the TV dial.

Both Bush and his Democratic opponent, John F. Kerry, want to seem like regular guys so voters can relate to them, said Scott Reed, a Republican consultant who ran Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996.<snip>

[LynzM]

1. I don't understand this

I know plenty of 'ordinary folks' who I wouldn't trust to run our country. I don't want someone 'just like me' in office, I want someone smarter than me, someone more knowledgeable about the multitude of interactions in the world. Why do people care who they'd rather have a beer with!? :eyes:

[papau]

2. Folks vote for who they want to see on TV for next 4 years - likeability!

crazy - but a very real vote getter - or loser.

:-)