C-Span Interviews GMU professor Stephen Farnsworth on New Book
By Ginny Atwood, George Mason University. Mar. 5, 2009
Essentially, running for president is a popularity contest. So said George Mason University professor Stephen Farsnworth in a televised C-Span interview about his new book, Spinner in Chief: How Presidents Sell Their Policies and Themselves.
Presidents constantly have to “ spin” their words and their image to meet the publics approval and sometimes this is more difficult than others. Crisis, Farnsworth said, really puts the spotlight on the presidency.
The 9/11 Crisis, Farnsworth said, increased George W. Bush’s approval ratings from just over 50 percent to almost 90 percent. “It really solidified Bush’s presidency,” Farnsworth said.
Crisis, this time the economy, will most likely define Obama’s presidency as well. Right now the American people are feeling anxiety and fear not uncommon to the months after 9/11.
Farnsworth believes that Obama will handle the recession well. “Above all, in times of crisis, people look for confidence,” Farnsworth said. Obama certainly has that.
The scrutinizing eye of the public falls upon modern presidents in a way that it never has before. The disadvantage for presidents now is that everything is documented in real time. “We don’t know what FDR looked like the moment he found out about pearl harbor, but we know what bush looked like during 9/11,” Farnsworth said.
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