TJ WALKER - THE HABIT INFLUENCER - Personal Development | LIVE STREAM

16 Jan 2015 · 3 min

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2:32

TJ Walker (live-stream commentator) discusses the Republican Party’s choice of Iowa Senator Joni Ernst to deliver the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address. He frames the pick as a smart publicity move because Ernst is a fresh, attractive face who will draw viewers, notes uncertainty about the novelty of her ideas, and situates the moment with historical parallels (Reagan’s 1964 keynote, Obama’s 2004 convention) and counterexamples (Marco Rubio’s poor speech performance).

Questions this video answers

Senator Joni Ernst (Iowa).

His 1964 Republican Party keynote speech.

His 2004 convention keynote speech.

Chapters

Americans will be seeing a new face of the Republican Party next week after the State of the Union address. The Republican Party has selected their new senator from Iowa, Joni Ernst, to give the response to President Obama's State of the Union address next week. I think this is a wise choice. I don't know that much about Joni Ernst. I do know she does not look like Mitch McConnell. She does not look like John Bo Boehner. The party is doing well these days, the Republican Party. They've never been in better shape in the last 80 years in Congress than they are now. But still, polls show most voters have an extraordinarily negative viewpoint of the Republican Party in Washington. That's why it's smart to give voters a new face. And I'm sorry if this is going to offend anyone, but there's sometimes you just have to speak out what's true, what people think, even if it's not considered polite to say it. Joni Ernst is really good looking. Now you could say that doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter. It does. You know, Ronald Reagan was a lot better looking than the average person. Bill Clinton was a lot better looking than the average person. American voters simply like to hear their political news, information, policies from people better looking than average. And Joni Ernst, his is really, really good looking. I mean, she's good looking in the way that your morning news talk show host is good looking. And I just think that makes her appealing to people. People are going to want to watch her. It's a fresh face. Whether her ideas are fresh, I don't know. But even if you have old ideas, having a fresh face deliver it a new style can help. Whether this makes her a star, I don't know. Many, many political leaders really rose to power because of a moment like this. Whether it's a keynote speech at a political convention or a response to a presidential State of the Union address. I mean, Ronald Reagan rose to fame and fortune from his 1964 keynote of speech at the Republican Party, Barack Obama, the 2004 convention. On the other hand, people like Marco Rubio have seen their fortunes plummet because of a poor performance in a speech like this. So a lot of eyes will be watching Senator Ernst next week. I'll be one of them.