The Charisma Notes (Fourth and last in a thought forgotten series)

I have asserted in a democracy that charismatic leadership is considered by career politicians to be a kind of operative "gold standard".
Many of them want it, but few for a variety of reasons, have it.
If you have it, leadership is somehow thought to be easier since issues can be decided by force of personality sans recourse to debate, reason, or even considerations of right or wrong.
Charismatic leaders are thought to be more persuasive (although Ann Ruth Willner might assert they are more "suggestive" in a near hypnotic fashion). An acute power of persuasion is thought to be a necessity in a democracy where the masses must be swayed at a minimal cost.
Charismatic leaders are believed by their followers to have transcendent powers of decision, persuasion as well as other heroic characteristics. In the classical charismatic relationship the leader both projects these attributes and has them projected upon him by his or her followers.
Therefore I contend that George Bush Junior in a very overt way is trying to become a classic charismatic leader.
The operative word in the above sentence is "trying" which freely denotes that Bush's "charisma" is being deliberately and artificially cultivated.
His superfluous flight to the Aircraft Carrier Lincoln being an important signifier and an attempt to merge the President with certain popular warrior myths. In that case he was also assisted by the Washington Opinion Establishment's unconscious preference to identify with strength.
I have also suggested that in a post modern fashion, it may be necessary only to activate a charismatic relationship with one key enabler, in this case Karl Rove.
Mr. Rove seems to spend an inordinate amount of time creating a leadership mythology around the President. However he is strongly inhibited in this endeavor by President Bush's poor oratorical skills.
It may well be possible that Karl Rove is seeking to create a new charismatic leadership style one that does not require gripping powers of personal persuasion.
That is only a theory though.
Critical to this "Rovian variation" is the notion of charisma as a commodity subject to market forces.
The allocation of charisma for a candidate lacking in certain key attributes therefore costs more money than those with traditional powers of persuasion and a heroic mien.
There is also a technology of charisma that strongly impacts the monetary price of charismatic leadership.
By this I mean TV commercials, phot-ops, advertising campaigns, etc.
It all costs money, more all the time.
If we wanted to, we could easily identify George Bush Jr. as a typical ill-fated son of a noted charismatic leader, a'la Baby Doc Duvalier, Richard Cromwell, or Senator Russell Long. All of these men were or are diffident personalities forced to run governments build on the bumptious charisma of their fathers.
The problem with that is, Bush's father was no spellbinder himself.
I think something new and different is going on.
Oh the net effect is still the same, but the path to charismatic leadership is changed.
One could call it "neo-charisma".
Bought on the free market, imposed on a personality ungifted with "natural" powers of persuasion, buttressed by emerging technologies, and activated initially by a relationship with a key enabler.
Crucial to this is a kind of lowering of charismatic expectations while still pursuing a charismatic political image.
In Washington DC this is the essence of "spin".
A mere one hundred years after William Jennings Bryan (the first serious modern spellbinder in America) charisma may have now become a wholly artificial quality.
Thanks to modern information technology reality is increasing "negotiated" and self filtered.
It may then follow that in a political context, charisma can be programmed and disseminated at a particular cost.
I think a lot of the President's public persona can be analysed successfully in the above manner.
This is all I have for the charisma notes,
I freely admit they are at times a rough read...
:)
Copyright 2003
JohnIAT
Johniat@aol.com