State Senator Gary Nodler has been around the block before. Running for office is no new deal for him. Fundraising is also one of his strengths, as you can see in a full report from KY3's David Catanese on his blog. The thing that most sticks out to me in this entire interview, however, isn't the fundraising data. It is Mr. Nodler's attitude, which I find highly disturbing. Look at what he has to say when asked about his likability by Catanese:
"Asked about how he'll handle the perception that he has more enemies than Senate colleague Jack Goodman, Nolder responded, 'I've got a lot more people that like me than Jack does too. It goes both ways.' 'I'm not too polarizing . . . People want to elect legislators to Congress. If the objective is to find a neutral or unremarkable person, or someone who doesn't have as much substance, that's probably not me,' he said."
Wow, how humble! There is something about this response that I believe helps perpetuate the perception that Gary Nodler's biggest fan is himself. If he has more "fans" than State Senator Goodman, could he explain why his own local colleagues (like State Representatives Ed Emery, Marilyn Reustman, and Kevin Wilson) are not supporting him? Additionally, I find his assertion that he is a remarkable candidate (at the expense of calling others unremarkable) very shallow.
Oh, and wait a minute: if he has more enemies and friends than the other candidates, wouldn't that make him polarizing? Here is the definition of polarization, in case Mr. Nodler needs a refresher:
"Polarization is the process whereby a social or political group is divided into two opposing sub-groups with fewer and fewer members of the group remaining neutral or holding an intermediate position."
Did I mention how exciting the 7th Congressional District race is going to be?
9 comments:
KY-3 political notebook published a poll in March that showed Nodler had much higher name recognition than Goodman. It showed that more people liked him and more people disliked him, in short he had higher name recognition. When asked how he would respond to those who say more dislike him he pointed out that more like him too....why do you find this "highly disturbing"?
First, name recognition is different than like/dislike. I think Nodler could make the point that because more people know him than Goodman more people are likely to have a perception of him (whether it be good or bad) than they do of Jack. But, he decided to respond in a more juvenile way... "Yeah, well... more people like me than him, too." Can't you just hear it?
Yet, if you want to argue that point let us look at it this way. Nodler said he wasn't polarizing yet most seem to be in one camp or the other when asked about Gary Nodler (see definition of polarization).
And finally, Nodler referred to himself as remarkable. I'm sorry... I am not fond of people who put themselves into that category. I know you have to have some ego to become a politician and to think you are the best person for the job, but come on... that is stretching it a little, don't you think?
The poll was up on the KY-3 blog. It showed more than name recognition, it also showed more favorable and unfavorable responses and more very favorable for Nodler than Goodman, so the poll showed clearly that more people liked Nodler than Goodman, and more people disliked him than Goodman, it is my own observation that that is a function of higher name recognition. As to your definition of polarizing, every candidate needs to get more votes for him than against him, so by definition every candidate has to be polarizing to some extent, you must move voters one way or the other not leave them in the middle. Nodler was asked if he was too polarizing and said he didn’t think so and I read his comment to mean he isn’t bland or unremarkable or in his own words neutral. He did not say he was “remarkable” or comment on any other candidate at all as to whether they were bland or neutral or unremarkable the question was to him about him and his answer was about himself not his competitors. You seem to want to read more in than is there.
I have read and re-read this and nowhere do I see Nodler claiming that he is remarkable.
He says plainly that if the 7th District is looking for an unremarkable person, that is not him. If he isn't claiming to be unremarkable, he must be claiming to be remarkable.
You seem to be thinking that I don't like this guy. I haven't drawn that conclusion yet. I do think, however, his answers tends to carry a bit of arrogance and that bothers me. There is enough arrogance in Washington, DC without adding more. I want a common sense down-to-earth person who has the knowledge to benefit our district.
In the end, the voters in this district will decide. In the meantime, maybe Mr. Nodler would like to clarify his comments. If he would like to do that he can always contact me: thenews2k@gmail.com so that I, a constituent and blogger, can better understand where he is coming from.
unremarkable is not the opposite of remarkable. Remarkable means extraordinary or unusual, unremarkable means comon or ordinary or without distinction. An ordiary person can achieve distinction and be niether remarkable or unremarkable. It seems that you make the mistake of thinking these two words are opposite when they are not.
Quick check of my thesaurus sure shows an antonym of unremarkable as remarkable. It also shows exceptional and special. Perhaps you feel these are better words to describe Mr. Nodler?
Maybe the best option would be for Senator Nodler to clarify what he meant. We may both not understand what he meant. All we are left with are our two perceptions.
Newsy,
You have discovered that Gary Nodler has an attack dog(s) that will jump all over anything that is written about Nodler that offers anything less than praise. Welcome to the club. Keep up the good work!
Hey TBT- the KY3 poll was one that Nodler paid for and it had nothing about negatives or favorable ratings. In fact nothing was mentioned other than the 6% margin or error and some numbers.
It was bogus as are your comments.
By the way, when is Nodler getting out of the third grade? I am rubber and your are glue....
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