At some point, a candidate for the presidency in Romania (which I voted for), had a rather unusual gesture – accepting an invitation to appear on a rather popular TV show on a motorcycle.
„Monica Macovei, europarlamentar si candidat la prezidentialele din noiembrie, a intrat, joi, in platoul unei emisiuni TV calare pe o motocicleta, cu casca pe cap si un cartus de mitraliera in mana.”
Macovei explica de ce i-a dat un cartus lui Teo Trandafir (Video) »
„Macovei a spus ca Teo Trandafir a vazut pe internet un clip al sau pe motocicleta lui Sorin Avram, si in acel moment i-a propus sa vina astfel in platoul emisiunii sale de la Kanal D.”
VIDEO Monica Macovei despre episodul intrarii cu motocicleta in studioul TV: A fost un fel de santaj:) Teo Trandafir mi-a spus ca ori vin pe motoclicleta, ori ma pune sa calc – Politic – HotNews.ro »
There are two views, as far as I’m concerned, on this:
- If the candidate thought this was harmless, and actually considered the gesture to be fine, then I have nothing to comment on. „If you think it’s OK, then it just becomes OK. Instantly.” and „All is fair in love and war”. All good.
- If the candidate did consider this appearance a bit strange but thought something in the line of „What harm can come out of this?”, then I consider the gesture a mistake. Some people (see the quote below) tend to be influenced by various gestures. This is even more important in politics – you need to show you’re capable of managing your brand and seeing the implications of a specific gesture. If you’re a leader, your actions will shape society. On the specific situation we talk about, perhaps the candidate put the two things in balance – „I will gain visibility, in exchange for doing something atypical, and that’s a fair price to pay”. The thing is, others may view this with different eyes. And even if you do a lot of good things, some people will tend to focus on the one time you did something wrong.
(Andrei Pleşu, despre Monica Macovei) „Nu-mi place s-o văd intrînd cu motocicleta într-un studio de televiziune […]”
Andrei Pleşu: Argumentele pentru care îl votez pe Iohannis | adevarul.ro
I voted with Monica Macovei at those elections. I had no problem with her appearance. But seeing how others reacted to that gesture was disheartening, and it might have been a mistake. Some people are hard to please and they will look at a mistake with not-so-happy eyes.
A quote I like a lot:
„I don’t judge people on their worst mistakes.” (Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, “Avengers: Endgame” – 2019)
More people should embrace this, at least so I think. :)
