How Enthusiastic are you about someone from the common folks being President of the United States?

[bryant69]

"9. No more dynasties. I'm sick of this back and forth bullshit. Let someone from the common folks step forward."
from this controversial thread on Hillary Clinton -->
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3464158

What do you think? Leaving aside the odds of someone from the Common Folks becoming President, how do you feel about someone from the Common Folks being President of the United States?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[IndianaJones]

1. who would that be? nt.

[pitohui]

2. bill clinton was from the common folks and look how he was shit on

i don't understand the purpose of this poll, unless it is to pretend that hilary clinton is somehow part of a "dynasty" instead of a woman who married a poor boy from arkansas whose mom might have played cards a little too much

how much more common folk do you people want?

[Squatch]

3. Surveying my feifdom, I cannot envison any of those unwashed

vassals being elevated to any position not commensurate with their caste.

[pnwmom]

4. I don't know what you mean by "from the common folks."

If by that you mean someone who was born in a lower income family, but has achieved success through hard work and intelligence, like John Edwards, that's great.

But I don't want Forrest Gump. We already have one of those, he just happened to be born with a silver spoon (or foot) in his mouth.

The next President has to be smarter than me or any of my neighbors.

[kenny blankenship]

5. I care only that the nominee represent the common folks - not the corporations and their lobbyists

Where they come from is unimportant compared to what they actually do. People use "where you come from" as a guide to predict who you will represent and to predict what you'll do in office, but they can easily be misled that way.

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. What you said.

FDR's blood was so blue it was practically imperial purple, but he actively worked for the common people because he recognised that his wealth and priviledge would not have been possible but for the labor of millions. Enlightened self-interest.

I don't care where they come from so long as they are devoted to the principles of the constitution and the welfare of the citizens - all the citizens.

[MethuenProgressive]

6. Never happen.

The "commonest" guy we have is a Harvard millionaire.

[Dora]

7. Bogus poll. Who sets the standards for "common" folk?

What are the standards...

of education?
of experience?
of intellect?
of diplomacy?
of ability?
of moral fiber?

[bryant69]

9. Well that's a good point

I don't think it makes the poll bogus - I just saw the phrase and had a reaction and was curious to see what other people think about it.

Bryant

[Posteritatis]

8. I'm not that enthusiastic about the notion of "the common folks." (nt)

[Klukie]

10. Define common folk n/t

[frogcycle]

13. I assume it is a holdover from British monarchy

The House of Lords and House of Commons

"Commoners" being people not "to the manor born."

We don't have a peerage system of Lords and Ladies, Earls, Dukes, Duchesses and such here in the US of A, so technically everyone is "common folk."

The ONLY semblance of it we have is inherited wealth. Someone born into money is generally more privileged, in that they can buy influence. Paris Hilton would be an example. So would John Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller, Mitt Romney, Anderson Cooper, both Bushes.

Unless you want to demand that one has to have been a 'foundling' to be of the "common folk" it is a bullshit point.

[TahitiNut]

15. Well, Kucinich is from the House of Commons.

:shrug:

[bryant69]

16. I don't know - While I agree that the term isn't exact

I do think we have an idea of what it means when we hear it. I would, however, argue that our reaction to it probably says more about us than any hypothetical common folk. Full disclosure, I think of Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel, which, like I say, probably says something about me.

Bryant

[Selatius]

11. If "common folk" means "middle of the road," then no. We need someone with vision like FDR.

Middle of the road types don't have the conviction. It's why they're called moderates.

[bleedingheart]

19. I am with you...we need an FDR

not a moderate

[DinahMoeHum]

12. You have to be born a George W Bush. Just about anybody, OTOH

can be a Bill Clinton.

:kick:

[LeftishBrit]

17. Wouldn't it depend who?

I didn't vote as it's not my country; but I think it would be great - or rather just what should be expected of a democracy- if people didn't need to have money and connections to become president, as so often they seem to (though am I right in thinking that Bill Clinton didn't come from particularly rich or upper-class origins?)

As regards an individual politician, it would depend what they were like overall. In Britain, we have had politicians like Maggie Thatcher and Norman Tebbit who came from lower-middle-class or working-class origins, but regarded themselves as having risen to a higher class purely through their own virtues and efforts, and were quite prepared to trample on poorer people who hadn't 'made it' and whom they therefore saw as undeserving. So it depends not only on a politician's origins but on their empathy.

[warren pease]

18. Overjoyed, because I only vote for normal guys I'd like to have a beer with. n/t