The Syndrome of the Embarrassing Advocate
Both the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States are learning all about the Syndrome of the Embarrassing Advocate. It's that feeling of hollow victory when someone who is a few sandwiches-short-of-a-picnic starts to advocate for a position you hold dear.
We have seen Republicans wincing when Donald Trump, a celebrity politician, has started to espouse conservative causes. We in New Zealand can afford to laugh at Trump because none of the avian excrement is likely to foul our nests. So he has been good for us--as a comedic figure can be. After all, laughter is the best medicine, they say. Thus, we were heartily amused when, being confronted by his ideological and philosophical about-faces, Trump (with a straight face, no less) justified them by saying, "Well, look, back then I was a business man, Now I am a politician." What a deliciously ironic turn of phrase.
And don't get us started on Hillary Clinton. Democrats and Independents all over the country must be wincing every time she opens her mouth to change feet. It pays to be sanguine about it all. As Mr Bennett has said, "What do we exist for, eh Lizzy, but to make sport for our neighbours, and for us to laugh at them in their turn."
We have had our own Kiwi incident of the embarrassing advocate right here in NZ.
