Who's the most charismatic ?

Discussion in 'World Events' started by See Post, Nov 11, 2011.

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    Originally Posted By davewasbaloo

    I disagree, then again I love Russian and Welsh too. I speak French too (a little Spanish and Italian as well) and I find none of them 'romantic', but then I have a holiday ownership in France and have travelled extensively in the different regions which likely colour my perceptions (just like when I hear a southern us accent elicits an involuntary response of prejudice from me - which is wrong too)
     
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    Originally Posted By vbdad55

    <I don't know that Hitler was charismatic. When I've heard tapes of him I find his style rather threatening. He was successful in swaying opinion because of his ability to pander to people fears and prejudices. Does that make him charismatic? I'm not so sure<

    the majority of my Dad's side of the family lived in Germany & Austria during the 30's-50's and many still live there. In talking to grean parents and great uncles when I was younger as going to school in the US in the late 50's early 60's the war was still pretty much on people's minds... they definitely felt like he was charismatic -- yes he was threatening to, but early on- to the average person there- he hit the hot topics and did so with German pride in many people's eyes. Many were still pissed over restraints placed on germany at the end of WWI-- so charismatic- yeah he was for the audience he spoke to.
    scary thought- I know
     
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    Originally Posted By Longhorn12

    Carl Sagan... every time I listen to him speak I almost think we might survive as a species.
     
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    Originally Posted By gurgitoy2

    Yeah, I agree that German can sound a little rough at times. Russian too. It reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Lisa gets lost and ends up in the little Russia section of Springfield. She asks strangers for help and they all sound threatening to her and she gets scared. The subtitles show that they are trying to be kind to her, but she thinks the worst because the language sounds so rough.
     
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    Originally Posted By dagobert

    >>>the majority of my Dad's side of the family lived in Germany & Austria during the 30's-50's and many still live there.<<<

    Since I'm from Austria, I'm interested in where your relatives lived in Austria.

    And I agree that German sounds sometimes a little bit rough, especially in Northern Germany. I would also say German is a lot harder to learn than English. For example we have more cases and more articles.

    Hitler wasn't charesmatic, he just used the fears of the people and the great depression to gain more power. The Treaty of Versailes was the catalyst for the second World War, since it was just established by the winner countries to secure that Germany will not gain any power again. Back then it maybe was their right to do so, but it didn't give Germany any chance to recover.
     
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    Originally Posted By vbdad55

    <Since I'm from Austria, I'm interested in where your relatives lived in Austria.

    Linz and Innsbruck ( where my Dad was stationed) - and the other side of my family is from Bratislava- as you know just over the border, and outside of Prague.
     
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    Originally Posted By dagobert

    >>>Linz and Innsbruck ( where my Dad was stationed) - and the other side of my family is from Bratislava- as you know just over the border, and outside of Prague.<<<

    I grew up near Linz and I went there to High School. Now I live in Salzburg, but I return to Linz every three weeks, because my and my girlfriend's parents still live there.
     
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    Originally Posted By vbdad55

    very cool-- I now work on a global project management team where two of my team members are Austrian and we have a lrge processing center in Bratislava. They live a few miles inside the Austrian border...
     
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    Originally Posted By tiggertoo

    In terms of presidents, Teddy Roosevelt has to be the most charismatic speaker we've ever had.

    Most charismatic ever? I think Napoleon would have given Hitler a run for his money.
     
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    Originally Posted By markymouse

    As for languages sounding harsh,

    its hard to beat Mandarin Chinese. Even in English, Chinese speakers sound harsh. I remember a kid who'd basically bark "You play checkers with me!" and scare the other kids, just for inviting them to play with him. I can't speak more than six words of Chinese, but I'm pretty confident "Excuse me, if you have the time, would you mind ..." translates as "You! Now!"
     
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    Originally Posted By markymouse

    As for charismatic candidates,

    it's my pet theory that just about every recent Presidential election is between the charisma candidate and the resume candidate, and the charisma candidate always wins.

    Carter over Ford
    Reagan over Carter and Mondale
    (Bush over Dukakis - two resume candidates after Gary Hart, the charisma candidate, self destructed)
    Clinton over Bush
    Clinton over Dole
    Bush over Gore
    Bush over Keary
    Obama over McCain

    But as every Republican from Bachmann to Peary is learning to their chagrin, resume candidates often win their party's nomination. Just not the general election. Good luck with that, Mitt.
     
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    Originally Posted By Dabob2

    <
    it's my pet theory that just about every recent Presidential election is between the charisma candidate and the resume candidate, and the charisma candidate always wins.>

    See also, post #7. :)
     
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    Originally Posted By gardenrooms

    Every year I show my students my favorite parts of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s great "I Have a Dream" speech, and it moves me without fail - and my little 2nd Graders understand the parts I introduce them to. Someone who can have an impact on 60-year-olds and 7-year-olds alike can't be overlooked.
     
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    Originally Posted By markymouse

    Dabob2, I completely agree. But with the caveat that charisma doesn't necessarily win the primary. Reagan lost to Ford. Hart lost to Mondale. Parties often nominate those resume candidates. But they hardly ever go on to win the general election.
     
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    Originally Posted By Dabob2

    Absolutely.
     
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    Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan

    Many people found Sarah Palin charismatic, so maybe my charismaometer isn't functional.

    To this day, I can't understand what people see in her. She isn't funny (intentionally, anyway) or witty, doesn't have an ounce of gravitas on anything, always seems to be trying way too hard to be glib. She is good at stirring stuff up, but that's not charisma to me.

    Thankfully, she's slowly fading into the background noise. It was a long 15 minutes, but they appear to have just about passed.
     
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    Originally Posted By Dabob2

    I really think Palin's appeal was the same as Limbaugh's - she was an attack dog attacking the left that the right just LOVED. Notice that moderates never warmed to her. I think true charisma transcends mere partisan bickering. So that even though I agreed with Reagan on very little, I absolutely saw the charisma. I think most honest people on the right would say the same of Clinton or Obama. And, of course, all three got lots of moderates to vote for them.

    Palin's appeal is narrow but deep. The same people who tune in day after day to hear Limbaugh insult liberals and don't care how often he gets his facts wrong responded to Palin, and I think for much the same reasons.
     
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    Originally Posted By Dabob2

    Oh, and some people found her "hot," which didn't hurt. So you basically have a brunette Ann Coulter. And look at Coulter - she's downright mean-spirited, but every time she writes one of her laughable screeds... excuse me, I mean one of her books... it makes the best-seller list. The people who like that kind of stuff REALLY like it. And they lapped up Palin. That really is the basis of her appeal, I think.

    The only real difference between the two, is I think Coulter understands who her audience is, and understands that ultimately it's schtick designed FOR that audience. Because Palin went from nowhere to national audience literally overnight, and she got in that bubble and was being nominated for the second-highest office in the land and had all these people telling her how great it was and how America "needed" her and only her... I think part of her really started to believe it.
     
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    Originally Posted By vbdad55

    <Many people found Sarah Palin charismatic, so maybe my charismaometer isn't functional.<

    for one speech she did almost seem a breath of fresh air...sadly it all turned out to be empty...but I think the charismatic part only lasted a short time.
     

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