Do Republicans care about integrity, or is it a nuisance?

[snoopy369]

Roosevelt did!

Which Roosevelt are you talking about? The first one, "Born into a wealthy family in New York City"? Or the second one, who "grew up in an atmosphere of privilege"? (Both from their respective Wikipedia pages). The Roosevelts were one of the leading families in New York; not Rockefellers but certainly plenty well off in their own right. Both Teddy and FDR were very well off and are pretty much evidence of the fact that even back a century ago the leaders of this country were the same as today - privileged members of powerful families.

[snoopy369]

While you're on this topic, what the heck does "being able to relate" to poor people matter in a President anyway? Is the President going to throw a party for the poor people? The purpose of our governmental structure is quite explicitly to avoid this being an issue.

Congress (House): Each to his/her own district, many of them (435), so each representative is effectively the direct representative of the people in his/her district. This is who you go to if you want something. These people should be able to relate to the poor people.
Senate: 2 per state. This is effectively (and for a long time, was) the representative of the State government. Used to be selected by the State congress in most states.
President: One per country. Selected for his/her ability to LEAD A COUNTRY, not for his/her ability to relate to poor people.

[Lorizael]

There was a super-rich woman on the news yesterday who had inherited her fortune and decided to announce that poor people just weren't working hard enough. This is not an uncommon syndrome amongst people who have never had to struggle in any way.

Oh yeah? Well sometimes when you give homeless people money, they spend it on booze. So there!

[rah]

Obama did not spend his whole life wealthy. There's no need to elect someone poor to the Presidency but having a leader who has actual experienced a normal lifestyle makes them a lot more likely to understand how real people live.

His experience being "poor" was a long long time ago. I think you put way to much importance on it. I'm sure he's much more influenced by his last 20 years. I just don't buy the he can relate better argument. He has been part of the privileged class for a long time.

[giblets]

While you're on this topic, what the heck does "being able to relate" to poor people matter in a President anyway? Is the President going to throw a party for the poor people? The purpose of our governmental structure is quite explicitly to avoid this being an issue.

It might have something to do with their priorities. And the structure of our government does indeed make it possible for the public to try to avoid having leaders who don't care about their problems.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Oh yeah? Well sometimes when you give homeless people money, they spend it on booze. So there!

Sometimes when you give me money, I spend it on booze.

[snoopy369]

I don't see how it has anything to do with his priorities. The President's priorities should be leading the country into war, being the face of the country when interacting with other nations, and being a check on Congress to ensure that reasonable legislation is passed. Congress, particularly the House, should be representing the needs and interests of poor people.

[DinoDoc]

It might have something to do with their priorities. And the structure of our government does indeed make it possible for the public to try to avoid having leaders who don't care about their problems.

The record of this administration seems to argue against them giving a **** about the problems of poor people.

[snoopy369]

Seriously, people, this is not a ****ing monarchy. We're not electing a dictator or a King or whatnot. We're electing a President, who has very specific duties and responsibilities. If you want to select a President based on whether he panders to your specific special needs, then you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.

[DinoDoc]

Oh yeah? Well sometimes when you give homeless people money, they spend it on booze. So there!

Only sometimes?

[Lorizael]

Seriously, people, this is not a ****ing monarchy. We're not electing a dictator or a King or whatnot. We're electing a President, who has very specific duties and responsibilities. If you want to select a President based on whether he panders to your specific special needs, then you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.

This represents one of the biggest failures of the American experiment. We escaped King George, but we did not escape our desire to be led.

[DinoDoc]

Seriously, people, this is not a ****ing monarchy. We're not electing a dictator or a King or whatnot. We're electing a President, who has very specific duties and responsibilities. If you want to select a President based on whether he panders to your specific special needs, then you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.

There's a large portion of the population that wants to be Julia.

[Hauldren Collider]

The vast majority of homeless people are addicts or mentally ill. Some people believe that addiction should fall under mental illness, but that's besides the point.

This of course doesn't mean we shouldn't help them.

[giblets]

I don't see how it has anything to do with his priorities. The President's priorities should be leading the country into war, being the face of the country when interacting with other nations, and being a check on Congress to ensure that reasonable legislation is passed. Congress, particularly the House, should be representing the needs and interests of poor people.

You know the President is the head of a vast federal bureaucracy right?

[Hauldren Collider]

Seriously, people, this is not a ****ing monarchy. We're not electing a dictator or a King or whatnot. We're electing a President, who has very specific duties and responsibilities. If you want to select a President based on whether he panders to your specific special needs, then you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.

This is President Obama's entire re-election strategy. High level campaign aides have admitted this to being the case, although they stopped after Romney called him out on it. The basic strategy from day one was to go around to each particular demographic of the Democratic party and explain what government bacon Obama had brought them.