Ahmadinejad, the populist
Looking for a comparison between Ahmadinejad's executive behavior and that of Blair or Fox or Obasanjo? Here's an interesting perspective from Washington Post reporter Karl Vick's June 3 article:A Man of the People's Needs and Wants
"Ahmadinejad Praised in Iran as a Caring Leader
"ARAK, Iran -- The ordinary Iranians who poured into the local soccer stadium to hear President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad one day last month arrived carrying high hopes and handwritten letters. They left with just the hopes. The letters were collected in oversize cardboard boxes, then hoisted into the postal van Ahmadinejad has taken to parking prominently when he barnstorms the provinces, in an audacious campaign to make every Iranian's wish come true...
"If his image in the West is that of a banty radical dangerously out of touch with reality -- 'a psychopath of the worst kind,' in the words of Israel's prime minister -- the prevailing impression in Iran is precisely the opposite.
"Here, ordinary people marvel at how their president comes across as someone in touch, as populist candidate turned caring incumbent. In speeches, 17-hour workdays and biweekly trips like the one that brought him here to Central Province, Ahmadinejad showcases a relentless preoccupation with the health, housing and, most of all, money problems that may barely register on the global agenda but represent the most clear and present danger for most in this nation of 70 million...
"For a politician, the consequences of disappointing such achingly personal hopes could be catastrophic. But Ahmadinejad's government has been cushioned by the flood of revenue from oil exports at $70 a barrel.."
posted by Ken Wedding @ 12:00 PM
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