Presidential Potty Mouth Resonates Across the Web, but the Candor is the Impressive Part

What does President Bush swearing on national television have to do with business blogging? A lot.

If you’ve been watching the news, or following it online in the last few hours - you’ll have heard the news that President Bush’s private conversation with Tony Blair was picked up when Bush forgot to turn his microphone off prior to a meeting of the G8 Summit.

Everyone and their grandmother is buzzing about the fact that Bush swore (gasp!). But what’s truly remarkable is that he sounded intelligent and articulate - a contrast from the dissembling, down-home, Bushism-spewing faux numbskull that America has grown to intensely dislike over the last few months.

In his conversation with Blair, Bush seemed to have a good idea of exactly what he wanted to do about the Israel-Hezbollah conflict currently roiling the Middle East. “I feel like telling [UN Secretary General] Kofi [Annan] to get on the phone with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad and make something happen.”

As a test-audience, you don’t get much more Bush-hating than yours truly. I think the guy is the worst president we’ve ever had, and even I was impressed with his presence, his intellect, his grasp of the situation and what needed to be done. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sees a bump in the polls when all is said and done. My opinion of him certainly went up a couple notches.

Candor resonates with people. The unscripted human voice resonates with people. It’s possible that the political arm of the White House has forgotten that.

Maybe the President needs to ditch PR flack Karl Rove and start blogging. Maybe businesses that rely too much on scripted statements need to do the same thing.

The fine print: I’ve expressed my political views here in the context of making a point about the positive ramifications of candor. It is not my intention to use this blog as a pulpit for my political views, nor does my statement that I’m a Bush-hater in any way reflect the overall political sentiment at the Blog Business Summit. We remain, as always, neutral.