Journeys With John

So, did anyone watch Alexandra Pelosi's new documentary "Diary of a Political Tourist" tonight? It's on HBO this month, catch it if you get a chance. I really enjoyed "Journeys With George", which was her video diary of her time spent on Duyba's press corps in 2000.

I'm not really sure what I felt about this one. On the one hand, I really enjoyed some of the time she spent with Dick Gephardt and Bob Graham and Joe Lieberman. Especially Lieberman. I found myself liking him better as a person than I ever have before. I definitely came away with the feeling that you really really have to care to run for office. The amount of time and energy these people spent talking to people and trying to get them to vote for them was amazing. I couldn't do it. Listening to and putting up with every Tom, Dick and Harry. No thank you.

What didn't I enjoy about it? I finally figured it out. In JWG, Ms. Pelosi concentrated on Dubya. She was there to do a job and the documentary came about out of a personal project. No one paid her, originally, to do it. This time around she starts much earlier in the process. Way before the primary season even began. Her focus was much broader. She spoke to most, not all, of the candidates.
Two things I read in a interview she gave stick in my head. And I'm paraphrasing because I'm tired. One was that even with all the time she spent with Kerry, she didn't learn anything about him. Big John is very careful about him public image. And another thing Ms. Pelosi said was that this time around, every news agency had sent their reporters out with video cameras. The endless pressure of having a camera in front of you at all times must be amazing.

So what's my point? The American people have gotten lazy. If we can't get interesting little tidbits about our candidates, we throw them away. Don't like what they wore, how they expressed themselves? Well, they're out! They don't speak in sound bites? The nerve! Well, they'll just have to play by our rules or forget it!

Well, I'm making a stand. I don't want a President I can "hang out" with. Or the one that is the better drinking buddy. I want a President who can think and reason out an argument. I want a President that can speak in complete sentences. I want a President who won't insult the entire rest of the world. I want a President who will live up to his commitments.

So Alexandra Pelosi didn't learn anything about him. Okay. That's fine with me. I don't want President Pal. I want President Professional.