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Platz drei geht an das Presidential Debate zwischen JFK und Nixon in 1960. Ein echter Meilenstein in der Geschichte von US-Wahlen und heute noch eine rhetorische Lehrstunde. US-Wahlen sind in meinen Augen allgemein nicht besonders demokratisch. Das Zwei-Parteien-System in den USA halte ich für keine besonders fortschrittliche, geschweige denn ausgesprochen demokratische Errungenschaft. Von der übermächtigen und wenn überhaupt, dann nur schwer beherrschbaren Bürokratie hinter der Fassade der Demokratischen Institutionen mal ganz abgesehen. Die Presidentenwahlen sind dennoch grandios und unterhaltsam. In Deutschland scheint es seit Hitler ein weitestgehendes Charismaverbot für das Kanzleramt zu geben. Das ist bei US-Präsidentschafstskandidaten anders. Besonders sehenswert sind auch die Nominational Speeches und weitere Presidential Debates. Clinton und Obama haben brilliante Auftritte abgeliefert, regelrechte Sternstunden der Rhetorik (Stichwort 'horses and bayonettes' ^^).




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