03-10-2020, 04:33 AM
The incumbent ordinarily has the overwhelming asset of getting to set the agenda. The President has the means of praising what he likes and disparaging what he loathes. He can ask Congress to do things and, should Congress balk, run against Congress. He is in an excellent position for getting successes in foreign policy that nobody else can (often because such would be illegal for anyone else). He is also able to ride good economic news to show his competence as a steward of the economy.
Of course if he does badly at such things he fails -- and so does his Presidency. It would seem reasonable, also, to expect the President to live up to certain minimal standards of morality in office.
So what happens when a President fails at this? Incumbency becomes an albatross.
Of course if he does badly at such things he fails -- and so does his Presidency. It would seem reasonable, also, to expect the President to live up to certain minimal standards of morality in office.
So what happens when a President fails at this? Incumbency becomes an albatross.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.