The Candidates on Fidelity and Losing Their Tempers

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Wed Dec 19, 2007 at 10:35:53 PM EST
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Katie Couric asked the major presidential candidates about whether marital infidelity should impact voters and when was the last time they lost their tempers and why.

The videos are here. I thought the temper one was very interesting....take a look. Who do you think was fudging and who told the truth? Which one was the most likeable? Or, put another way, which one would you feel most comfortable chatting with, say over dinner? And who would have you looking at your watch, counting down the minutes till you could leave?

I thought Obama, Giuliani, Biden and Hillary were the least genuine. I thought Edwards and Huckabee were the most affable and truthful. Romney started off in denial and then changed horses and ended up pretty likeable. Thompson was honest but very boring. McCain was genuine in that "your father's oldsmobile" kind of way. Richardson was a toss-up to me, I wanted to believe him, but his example was a stretch of the imagination.

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The Candidates on Fidelity and Losing Their Tempers | 16 comments (16 topical)

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Wait!!!!! (1.00 / 0) (#7)
by jimakaPPJ on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 07:01:40 AM EST

Didn't everyone agree that running around on a spouse, BJ's, etc., doesn't matter?

What a wiffle question perky Ms Couric asks.

ALL Ten? (none / 0) (#1)
by Ben Masel on Wed Dec 19, 2007 at 10:52:48 PM EST

Of course already know the last time Gravel lost his temper was when MSNBC left him out of the debate.

: no, it wasn't ten (none / 0) (#2)
by Jeralyn on Wed Dec 19, 2007 at 10:59:54 PM EST

there was no Gavel, Ron Paul, Tancredo, Dodd or Kucinich.

I couldn't get the video to work (none / 0) (#3)
by Jgarza on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 12:14:48 AM EST

they all sound sincere on paper, but you know, its on paper i would really have to see to judge.

that's why (none / 0) (#4)
by Jeralyn on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 12:57:52 AM EST

I posted the link to the temper video so you could see and hear them.


: Finally (none / 0) (#5)
by Jgarza on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 02:07:10 AM EST

Got it to work
yeah i completely agree with you.
Edwards sounded the best, and most honest. Rudy is bad, he always sounds fake. the Thompson story about veterans is ridiculous, talk about pandering.
Obama is a bit scary i kind of believe him when he says he never looses his temper. his has two implications either he is a great liar, or he actually never gets mad. i hope he is a good liar, there is something strange about never loosing your temper.
Clinton, i think almost was honest and then she decided she had to tell that dog story. It was close.
Biden was completely full of it. Earlier this year my aunt sat in front of him on an Acela, and he was yelling on the phone.

On Fidelity (none / 0) (#6)
by Jgarza on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 02:35:15 AM EST

I thought it was the opposite, Hillary and Barack had the best answers.
I especially liked that Barack offered his drug use up as evidence that people can make mistakes and still be good people. I liked that Hillary gave it a historical frame.

I was really disappointed in Edwards answer. It completely misses the idea of atonement. you cant be a good president if you don't realize you can make a mistake, admit it and asked the country for forgiveness.

Agree (none / 0) (#8)
by koshembos on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 07:05:13 AM EST

I could agree more. Edwards seems the only human being in the group. Both Obama and Hillary play a stupid stoic game that is Saturday morning cartoon character stretch. I think Richardson was quite honest I believed that he has a temper.

By the way, Obama's "my daughters I perfect.." is the biggest crap I have heard in a long time. I have great kids, absolutely great, but the number of time they got me mad is in the millions.

Is Liars School a requirement for all politician and Edwards just happened to fail the school?

Excellent timing.... (none / 0) (#9)
by jerry on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 07:27:05 AM EST

I lost my temper last night and was feeling pretty crummy. Now I know I am at least more honest that the majority of our candidates.

Well, Clinton and Obama have to really play (none / 0) (#10)
by Geekesque on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 08:35:47 AM EST

down their moments of anger, lest they get tagged with the "hysterical woman" or "angry black man" stereotypes. White guys have the privilege of saying whatever they want.

: never thought of (none / 0) (#11)
by Jgarza on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 09:31:11 AM EST

it that way, but you have a point. Obama has een had to go so far as explain how he became a not angry black man in his books.

oh puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze! (none / 0) (#12)
by cpinva on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 10:45:54 AM EST

"most genuine"? give me a fricken break, will you? that is such chris matthews/sean hannity/etc. lameness, i'm shocked you would lower yourself to their pathetic level.

as regards huckabee; i understand hitler, mussolini and tojo were also considered pretty affable guys, when they weren't out murdering millions of innocent people. in hitler's case, he really loved his dogs too, until he poisoned them, to make sure the cyanide capsules worked. well hell, we can't all be perfect.

what transparently inane questions, by the equally as transparently inane ms. couric. who f*ing cares? what, if anything, does any of this have to do with being president? it's about as ridiculous as wondering who would be more interesting to sit down and have a beer with.

oh, wait, we already did that one, didn't we? yep, that worked out well.

i don't care what they think about marital infidelity. really, i just can't adequately describe the level of my complete disinterest. nor, do i give a rat's patoot about the last time, or any time, they lost their temper, or why, unless it resulted in a thermo-nuclear device being dropped on someone. aside from that, so what?

what i want to know is how they'll run the country, what they see as the single most important issue the next president needs to address, quickly?

that, however, would be asking too much, for someone of ms. couric's limited intellectual capacity.

I disagree (none / 0) (#13)
by Jgarza on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 11:22:56 AM EST

I think it is the only way to get insight as to how these people will deal with problems as they arise.

Take JE answer on fidelity, i found it awful judgmental. I could hear him giving some similar line about keeping your word on money you owe to screw over home owners or people with too much credit card debt. His answer should that at heart he has a very black and white way of thinking.

Hillary/Obama had much more measured thoughtful responses. Since Kerrey apologized she gets to come back as my 2nd choice.


i disagree with your disagreement (none / 0) (#14)
by cpinva on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 02:39:26 PM EST

we currently have an oval office occupant, elected, in part, because of the "character" issue: marital fidelity, et al.

that doesn't seem to have been much of a window to his soul, since it didn't stop him from screwing the other 2,999,999,998 people in this country.

and he throws hissy fits all the time, whining about how those horrid democrats just won't let him be free to war and spy on whoever he wants, without askin' a bunch of stupid questions about how he's spending the cash, and who he's spying on!

yep, very insightful. not.


fidelity (none / 0) (#15)
by Jgarza on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 04:27:00 PM EST

I don't think weather or not someone is a faithful husband is a predictor of anything, in fact i criticized Edwards for saying it is.

What i think questions gives a window onto is how a person reacts to someone who has made a mistake. Which i think is a big issue for a president, both in terms of how he/she will react to someone else's mistake, and a mistake they may make themselves.


: ok, fair enough. (none / 0) (#16)
by cpinva on Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 10:42:37 PM EST

i want a president who unhesitatingly flays and fillets someone in his/her administration who screws up big time, like FEMA and katrina. no hesitation, no remorse. minor bs i can live with, that can be fixed, and everyone's guilty of it from time to time.
the big stuff is where i expect no acceptance for screw ups. none, period.