Although in 2008 the candidates of both of the major parties (John McCain and Barak Obama) were both left handed, this year will be different. Although we do not yet know the Republican Party's nominee, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and even Michelle Bachman are all right handed. U.S. voters will have a clear choice in 2012 between left-handed and right-handed nominees.
The Republicans, although seen as the party of the right, have more often than not put forth left-handed nominees for the office of President of the United States in recent decades. (See previous post.) Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush and John McCain were left handed. Bob Dole, although raised right handed, was rendered left handed by his war wounds. Only George W. Bush, of the recent Republican nominees, was right handed. He won, but only against other right-handed nominees. (See Wikipedia article.)
The Democratic Party has not leaned to the left in its recent nominees, but it has been more successful when it has. Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, and Michael Dukakis are right handed. Carter beat left-handed Gerald Ford, but lost to left-handed (or at least ambidextrous--he was forced to learn to use his right in childhood) Ronald Reagan. Mondale and Dukakis lost, both to left handers. The Democrats learned their lesson, and Bill Clinton won. But then they tried right handers Al Gore and John Kerry. They returned to winning form with left-handed Barak Obama.
Why do left-handers seem to have the edge in winning the U.S. presidency? If you think you know please comment.
Fascinating piece! Thank you. My view as to why left-handers seem to have the edge in winning the US Presidency is that left-handers are adapters; they continually adapt to a world that wasn't designed with them in mind. They tend to be open-minded because of their accomodation; they understand struggle because of their own small, perhaps only metaphorical struggles in a right-handed world - thus they appeal to minorities and those who feel oppressed. Left-handers actually don't often appreciate their own unique accomodation in the world, and will invariably deny it, thus creating a humility of nature that is appealing. The American voter, when all is said and done, appreciates accomodaters, they appreciate humility; they appreciate that extra creativity in problem solving and the ability to see the world in a way they never saw it before that left-handers bring to the table. Do I love being left-handed? For some reason, in spite of the fact that my father told me he couldn't watch me cut tomatoes on the kitchen cutting board, that he playfully called me a "dopus," and that he taught me to play tennis with my non-dominant hand, there is something I like about seeing the world in a different way. I feel so strongly about letting little left-handers embrace their dominant side that I wrote a little ebook, called, "Lucky, the Left-Pawed Puppy," in which Lucky saves the day just BECAUSE he's left-handed. Perhaps a left-handed President will do the same for us this time around!
ReplyDeleteAs a left handed brother of another left hander I grew up to become a land surveyor. Not surprisingly many of the very best land surveyors I worked with were also left handed as are and were many of the world's most talented artists. We all think with our artistic side of the brainare very good at math and visualizing spatial relationship. Of all the left handed people that I've known or studied I honestly cannot recall a one that wasn't recognized as very intelligent. The comment from Billie in Feb brings up heretofore qualities I had never considered. But after reading his positive attributes of being left handed I realize that most of my left handed brethren are gifted with many if not every quality Billie lists.
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