I want that mayor of London Guy as President.

he has a first rate mind, doesn;t take himself seriously and is exactly middle of the road for US politics. His olympics was the best ever.

kidnap him if need be

(September 11, 2012 at 6:22 am)Puddleglum Wrote: I want that mayor of London Guy as President.

he has a first rate mind, doesn;t take himself seriously and is exactly middle of the road for US politics. His olympics was the best ever.

kidnap him if need be

hock:

Take him. Please. Take him!

He's Great and he beat that fuckwit Livingstone who even Labour voters hated.

(September 11, 2012 at 6:37 am)Puddleglum Wrote: He's Great and he beat that fuckwit Livingstone who even Labour voters hated.

Well, if you think that a political leader's most important trait is personality rather than policy... go for it; embrace Boris, for all that he's (not) worth.

Hes doing a pretty good job in London right now. The most important trait in a leader is the ability to get other people to do what you want. Mangining is about delegation.

I suppose you liked Red Ken, Red Celt.

(September 11, 2012 at 7:28 am)Puddleglum Wrote: Hes doing a pretty good job in London right now.

Citations required.

Oh, and the Olympics weren't organised by him. He wasn't even the mayor when the bid was won.

(September 11, 2012 at 7:28 am)Puddleglum Wrote: I suppose you liked Red Ken, Red Celt.

Oh, come now. Don't be childish.

(September 11, 2012 at 6:42 am)Red Celt Wrote: Well, if you think that a political leader's most important trait is personality rather than policy... go for it; embrace Boris, for all that he's (not) worth.

There's more to being a leader than policy.

Personality is the defining characteristic of a political leader, so I'd say it's most certainly the most important trait they can have. Any successful politician has a strong personality. You only have to look at history for that. Julius Caesar, Adolf Hitler, George Washington, Winston Churchill, Fidel Castro, Abraham Lincoln etc. Hell they all have very differing policies of that we can be sure, but each one of them was an absolute success politically, and mainly due to the fact they all had titanic personalities.

For better or worse, I see personality as a very important trait, and Boris certainly has it.

I find though that many seek to discredit him as an idiotic buffoon, because he comes across as 'haphazard' shall we say. But he's as intelligent as any other politician we have today. He went to Eton and got a very good education, and unlike other political leaders (ahem David Cameron), he didn't get there because his daddy paid for his tuition fees. He got there because he had a god damn scholarship. That means he was chosen to go there due to his actual achievements. He also had a scholarship for Oxford too might I add (and also became Oxford Union president).

So this guy isn't 'stupid', like some would have you believe. I'd go as far to say he's probably one of the most intelligent British politicians we have. His credentials are certainly as good as any other British politician, so I don't see how people can discredit him in such a way, it just smacks of pure ignorance of the man.

In terms of what he's done for London, well, good and bad. But isn't that like pretty much everything in politics anyway? He's got rid of alcohol use on public transport, improved cycling in the city, drawn up plans for more buildings, introduced minimum space requirements for new homes, he's even personally saved people from muggings (I'm not lying: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8340865.stm)

Quote:London mayor Boris Johnson has rescued a woman who was being attacked by an armed group of young girls, chasing them down the road on his bicycle.

But he's also had to deal with the London riots, the expenses scandals etc.

I simply ask myself whether anyone else could be doing a better job, and it seems a resounding no in my opinion. Look at any opinion poll on the internet and people want Boris to be London Mayor. When it comes to the Olympics and how he handled the riots, he did a fantastic job of bringing people together, and was a brilliant spokesperson. You simply can't deny that.


Say what you like about the man, but he's certainly not worthless

(September 11, 2012 at 10:37 am)Napoléon Wrote: There's more to being a leader than policy.

Personality is the defining characteristic of a political leader, so I'd say it's most certainly the most important trait they can have.

That may be true, but Americans still have a habit of taking that idea to a bad place. It's why we're so willing to elect charismatic idiots over abrasive geniuses.

---

(September 11, 2012 at 10:47 am)TaraJo Wrote: That may be true, but Americans still have a habit of taking that idea to a bad place. It's why we're so willing to elect charismatic idiots over abrasive geniuses.

Boris is smarter than the majority of our government.

(September 11, 2012 at 10:47 am)TaraJo Wrote: It's why we're so willing to elect charismatic idiots over abrasive geniuses.

But this is precisely the point I was making.

He's not a charismatic idiot, he's a charismatic genius.