Professor Elvin Lim, the author of a new book called "The Anti-Intellectual Presidency," has a political blog eponymously titled "Out on a Lim." His latest post provides an acute example of the difference between campaigning for the presidency and being the president.
Professor Lim suggests that candidates Obama and McCain are battling to appear most hawkish in their responses to the unrest in Georgia, while President Bush is responding to the situation in a more measured and reflective way. The reason: Presidents have to deal with geo-politics realistically regardless of American public opinion, while candidates have to deal with American public opinion regardless of geo-political realities.
The obvious question this paradoxical situation begs is; Why don't American voters reward candidates for reality-based analysis?