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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. For these last minutes of the show today, we're finally going to acknowledge that it's Presidents' Day. We're going to wrap it up with a call in for Presidents' Day, maybe made extra special due to the fact that we are in a presidential election year. Here's the question. When was the last time you were motivated to hit the ballot box not by fear or hatred of the candidate you wanted to stop, but instead out of hope for the candidate you wanted to support. 212-433-WNYC.

Who was an actual president that inspired you and made you excited for the future of the country? Has there been a president in your lifetime who you loved? Politically speaking, someone who you looked up to? When was the last time you voted for somebody out of hope and out of respect for that person rather than, "Oh my God, we've got to stop that one." 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We ask obviously because our current situation seems closer to the former than the latter for so many people.

While many of you have texted or called in speaking in praise of President Biden and his achievements while in office, I would reckon that many of you also have questioned the strength of his candidacy. We did a segment on that last week with an Atlantic writer who said, "I don't want Trump to be president again, no way." Is Biden the strongest candidate? Be it his age, his manner are speaking. How he's dealt with the ongoing situation in Gaza. Some of you lack confidence in the President's ability to take on another term, or you don't like his policies.

I know that those of you who feel that way, many of you plan on voting for Biden anyway, because the alternative another four years of Trump and the chaos and various forms of awfulness that you think he would bring are deeply unappealing, but this makes me wonder. Listeners, what is it about a candidate that tells you they'd make for a great president? What are qualities you look for in a president? Do you want someone personally inspiring? Someone who gives a great speech.

Someone who puts forth an ambitious agenda even if it's likely their ambitions won't all come to fruition, or do you appreciate someone practical who promises to compromise and tries to unify the country that way? Are you excited by campaigns that feature words like hope as many have in the past? Remember that Obama Hope poster that seemed to be everywhere in 2008? Remember Bill Clinton saying he still believes in a place called Hope. He came from Hope, Arkansas.

Is it more important that a president speaks directly to a particular issue that concerns you, like the economy, immigration, reproductive rights, climate, whatever it is. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Not to be isolation is tier, one thread of phone calls we can take. If anybody wants to call who comes originally from another country, this could be open to you too. After all, the United States is surely not the only country with elected heads of state, but maybe you and your home country of origin came from a place where the role of president or prime minister, whatever they call the head of state there is different from the perceived desirable qualities, or that the perceived desirable qualities are different in the country you may have come originally from.

Listeners back to the original question, when was the last time you were motivated to hit the ballot box not by fear or hatred of the opposition, but instead out of hope? What are the specific qualities that actually attract you the most to a presidential candidate? 212-433-WNYC on this Presidents' Day. 212-433-9692, call or text, and we'll take your calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your Presidents' Day calls on presidential candidates, and they didn't even have to win who you voted for rather than calling to stop the other guy. Elise in Midtown, you're on WNYC. Hi, Elise.

Elise: Hi. The first person I voted for I was very excited about was Hillary Clinton. I was in elementary school when Bill was president, and she's just been always someone I looked up to and coincidentally or maybe not, our politics really aligned once I became older. Just to be able to vote for someone, the first major woman candidate who was very interested in being a public servant and helping others and had a history. I was very excited to actually go and vote for her rather than just voting, if that makes sense.

Brian Lehrer: In that context, and assuming you're not a Trump fan, how do you feel about Biden this year?

Elise: I like Biden. A lot of my friends don't, they say he hasn't done enough. I like him, but also I'm a little biased. I've got a Irish Catholic family. I think he's a good person. I think he's fighting against a lot of-- things aren't in his control. I like him. I'll definitely vote for him again.

Brian Lehrer: Elise, thank you very much for your call. Marilyn in Glen Cove, you're on WNYC. Hi, Marilyn.

Marilyn: Hi. Should I turn off my radio?

Brian Lehrer: Yes, so we don't have the delay coming back at you.

Marilyn: Is that better?

Brian Lehrer: That is better.

Marilyn: Oh, do you hear me?

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Can you hear me?

Marilyn: No.

Brian Lehrer: You can't hear me.

Marilyn: Oh, but now I hear you. I'm sorry. I always wonder why people keep saying, can you hear me? Can you hear me? Now I get it. Anyway, the last time I was really excited was when Bernie Sanders was running, and before he was not obviously going to even be in the final running. I just thought that I felt great hope because I really felt that-- well, his mind and his heart was in the right place that he was really concerned about the environmental disasters. He was really concerned about income inequality. I just thought that the things he was most concerned about were the most important things and things we really needed to address immediately.

Brian Lehrer: Marilyn, do you see anybody on the horizon who could be the next Bernie Sanders for you?

Marilyn: No, [laughs] not quite anyway. I haven't seen anyone who really can think on their feet and their feet are grounded in their own personal sense of ethics. I remember during the debates when someone said, "What's more important, Black Lives Matter or All lives matter?" He just stood there for a minute thinking, and he said, "It's Black Lives Matter, and this is why." He's just such a clear thinker.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much for your call. I appreciate it. Listener writes, "I'm in my '70s and like my father who lived from 1911 to 1993, I've only once voted for someone always voting against. For me it was McGovern. For my father it was Adlai Stevenson. To everyone young voting against instead of for seems to be the way things go, just vote." Writes that listener in his 70s. David in Great Neck, you're on WNYC. Hi, David.

David: Good morning, Brian. Well, there are two presidents I guess I would say I loved. One was John F. Kennedy, the other is Barack Obama.

Brian Lehrer: Do you want to talk about either of them at all? Since you were a member voting for Kennedy, what actually drew you to Kennedy in 1960?

David: Well, I did vote for Kennedy when my mom let me vote for him in the voting booth. I saw him on Northern Boulevard too, but both Kennedy and Obama were charismatic and both were brilliant orators. Of course, Kennedy saved the world in the Cuban missile crisis. He also set the path for civil rights reform and other things. Obama managed to get us out of the economic crisis that Bush Jr. had created and McCain couldn't understand. He also provided tremendous leadership, and he gave us Obamacare, which was the first improvement on Medicare since LBJ. Those are the two I really loved.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. Good stories and sounds like you had a good mom who set a good model by bringing you into the voting booth with her when you were a kid so you could develop the habit. David, thank you. Do you remember anything she said to you about Kennedy if you were a kid, then?

David: Well, my father, by the way, was the Democratic committeeman in that election district. Both my parents are immigrants. By the way, my father who only came to this country in 1946, he also deeply loved one other person who lost twice, and that was governor at Adlai Stevenson. For Kennedy, I mean, it was just a tremendous, also a good deal of it too was that he was young after President Eisenhower who was old. Also, of course, remember, it was leadership for the '60s. The whole idea, remember Kennedy said, "Let's get this country moving again." I know my folks found that extremely appealing.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. Here's Dennis in Jersey, who's also going to say Obama, but I think with a little qualifier. Dennis, you're on WNYC, hello.

Dennis: Hi, Brian, good to talk to you again, I'd called before. Yes, Obama. Your previous caller's a little older than me. I didn't get to vote because I was five, or four, for Kennedy. I remember Nixon, I grew up apathetic in New Jersey to politics through the '70s. I was very leery of Reagan but I wasn't voting. By the time Obama came along, I'm like, "Thank God the country did the right thing."

Now, I'm married to somebody who did vote for Trump and wouldn't vote for Trump again. I have no choice but to vote against Trump. I'm given hope, I've been watching a lot of NPR stuff, Liz Cheney. All I want is somebody that talks straight and gives us hope because Liz Cheney thinks there's hope because Trump is telegraphing very clearly what he is and what's going to happen. That's it, give me another Obama.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you. Thank you very much. Listener writes in a text message, "Age 75, Clinton was the first president I actually wore a button for. Gore didn't excite me, though I voted for him. Campaigned for Obama both times. Though she was a flawed candidate, Hillary was my pick, and of course, Biden although I'm concerned about this second term," so listeners citing Clinton and then Gore didn't excite me though I voted for him.

Program note, Bill Bradley, former senator from New Jersey, former New York NIC, and if you remember, he ran in the Democratic primaries for President in 2000 against Al Gore. Bill Bradley is going to be one of our guests on Wednesday, so in case that's of interest to anyone who remembers when Bill Bradley was in the public sector, in the public eye, he's got something going and he's going to talk to us here on Wednesday. Linda, in Westchester, you're on WNYC. Hi, Linda.

Linda: Hi, I didn't know I was going to be on. Thanks for taking my call.

Brian Lehrer: You called us.

Linda: When you were talking about-- Yes, that's true. When you were describing all the qualities that people might get excited about when they are thinking of who they want to be a president, I just was thinking every single one of those was Joe Biden. I love Biden, I can't tell you how happy I was to cast my vote for him. He brought the promise of turning back four years of chaos and nastiness and meanness, and I cried with joy when he was confirmed as president. He's old and if that's the worst thing you can say about him, so be it, I'm going to be delighted to vote for him again. Yes, I love him, I think he's great and I actually think [crosstalk].

Brian Lehrer: A lot of people who are Democrats say, "Yes, Biden I guess, he's okay, better than the alternative."

Linda: Well, slow and steady wins the race. He's just a normal person who just is, he's not lying about everything, and I think he genuinely wants the best for the country.

Brian Lehrer: That's where we will leave it with Linda in Westchester and all your calls and text on the last presidential candidate you actually voted for instead of voting against the other guy and what qualities really attract you to a president or somebody running for it. That's The Brian Lehrer Show for today produced by MaryEileen Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum, Zach Gottehrer-Cohen edits on national politics podcast. Our intern this term is Ethlyn Daniel-Scherz. Megan Ryan is the head of live radio. We had Jason Isaac and Milton Ruiz at the audio controls. Happy Presidents' Day, whatever you do to celebrate Presidents' Day, and stay tuned for Allison.

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