The Likeability Factor

Some have it and some don’t. Often it is the sure sign of a leader. Ronald Reagan had it, as did Colin Powell. The very first time you see these people, you like them. From that time on, it doesn’t matter what they do, you still like them.

There were great female leaders, some likeable some not so much. Golda Meir was everyone’s grandmother. One look at her and you began to have visions of cookies and milk. When she said something, it was your grandmother talking.

 Indira Gandhi, well she had that gray streak in her hair, but even so, she couldn’t quite pull off that grandmotherly feel. Yes, she was beloved and well liked, but not universally. Obviously, someone didn’t like her. Her Sikh bodyguards assassinated her in 1984 a few months after she ordered the storming of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar to counter the Punjab insurgency.

And who doesn’t know the story of Eva Perón? Yes, the subject of the play Evita; that Eva Perón. The First Lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952, when she died of cancer. The people of Argentina loved her even as they reviled her husband Juan Perón. As a strong defender of labor rights, she became powerful within the pro-Perónist trade unions. She also ran the Ministries of Labor and Health, founded and ran the charitable Eva Perón Foundation, championed women's suffrage in Argentina, and founded and ran the nation's first large-scale female political party, the Female Perónist Party. She may not have run the Argentina, but she wielded great power mostly because of her likeability.

Can Hillary Clinton measure up? It’s doubtful. Yes, she has her supporters, but even they don’t all like or most importantly, trust her. While some great women in history can be and have been deceitful, Mrs. Clinton has taken deception and lying to new lows. Most importantly, she is not liked. Could she become President? Anything is possible, but without being universally liked or trusted, she will not be able to achieve what she has promised. And she will never go down in history alongside the likes of Golda Meir or Eva Perón.

Ronald Reagan was so popular he easily slid past scandals that would have brought down the likes of Richard Nixon or Jimmy Carter. Yes, there were a few who didn’t like him. John Hinkley even shot him. Although the assassination attempt was spawned merely from deranged delusions of trying to impress a woman who didn’t even know he existed and not out of any political dislike.

So, what is the likeability factor for Donald Trump? That’s a tough question. Those who like him, love him, those that don’t hate him. But do they really like Trump the man? For certain, he is no Ronald Reagan. I think it would be a safe bet that most of his “supporters” love the way he is giving the bird to the Washington politicians and the Washington lobbyists. Then too, there are those that believe he will not be doing favors for supporters simply because he is funding his own campaign.

It’s a shallow pool Mr. Trump is wading in. The test will be if he is elected. How will he fare in the deep water? Will his likeability factor be enough to carry him through the failures of congressional rejection or any scandals that are sure to follow when he begins throwing people out of the country?

Such a choice we have in this election! We can elect a little liked deceitful Democrat merely because she would be the “first” female President. Or we can elect a bombastic, narcissistic Republican many seem to like for all the wrong reasons.

Well, the primaries aren’t over, and there is no sure thing in this race yet. Who knows, maybe God will intervene and we will elect the Pope. He has a high likeability factor, doesn’t he?