Posted by
Karen Spencer on Wednesday, November 01, 2006 7:27:34 PM
Leadership is saying you’re wrong, when you are. John Kerry stepped into muck the other day in California. And he did not get out of it gracefully. No one denigrates our soldiers – no matter how they feel about the Iraq war or our President.
The American public has shown over and over that they understand our leaders make mistakes. However, they want them acknowledged immediately. John Kerry took his time. And he seemed to not want to take personal responsibility for his statement or its implications. Doing so indicates to the American public that Senator Kerry may not really know what his statement really implied. He has shown fuzzy thinking about the American public. And this fuzzy thinking is dangerous leadership.
He was in California helping the Democratic candidate for Governor. Last year, the Republican Governor was trounced on his statewide initiatives during the election. The next day, the Governor apologized to the people of California. He said he received their message to work with the Legislature to solve California problems. Governor Schwarzenegger is leading the Democratic challenger Senator Kerry was helping by 18 points. The apology was the beginning of Governor Schwarzenegger’s upswing in California.
Senator Kerry has continually shown a lack of leadership. He will not accept personal responsibility for making bad statements. Good leaders do. And they do them immediately. And generally with dignity, grace, humility and good humor. The American public deserves and expects this behavior from their leaders.