Does this sound familiar?
______ showed a tendency toward an insular management style, relying on a coterie of aides who have worked for him for years, his aides and associates said. His choice of lieutenants, and his insistence on staying with them even when friends urged him to shake things up, was blamed by some associates for the campaign’s woes. Again and again, ______ was portrayed as a manager who valued loyalty and familiarity over experience and expertise.
This sort of attitude has been a common critique of President Bush. But this quote was not about him, and I admit I altered it a little. The actual quote is from an article about Senator Clinton's presidential campaign in the New York Times.
Mrs. Clinton showed a tendency toward an insular management style, relying on a coterie of aides who have worked for her for years, her aides and associates said. Her choice of lieutenants, and her insistence on staying with them even when friends urged her to shake things up, was blamed by some associates for the campaign’s woes. Again and again, the senator was portrayed as a manager who valued loyalty and familiarity over experience and expertise.
My question for you is this: if you have President Bush in mind when you read it, does it strike you differently - does it seem more positive or negative - than if you have Senator Clinton in mind?
Monday, March 10, 2008
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1 comment:
Fun post. That same issue of loyalty crossed my mind when hearing about recent Clinton campaign stories.
Loyalty is an interesting virtue. I think the Christian should have only one loyalty: to God, obviously. Of course, other loyalties get subsidized by one's loyalty to God (to Church, to neighbor, to wife, etc.)
I wonder how that works for a politician? She should obviously be loyal to her constituents...but what about when other powerful interests conflict with that loyalty. On one end, what if her loyalty to God conflicted with her loyalty to her constituents; on the other end of the spectrum is the special interests that might be responsible for her being in office.
That's a tricky line to walk.
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