Popular Rhetoric, Public Mood, and Presidential Leadership

"In democracies...political success and fame are won by those orators who most skillfully give expression to transient, often inchoate, public opinion. Governing by this means, if indeed it can be called governing, leads to constant instability as leaders compete with each other to tap the latest mood passing through the public."

-Ceaser et al "The Rise of the Rhetorical Presidency" (1981)