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In an article published Oct. 21 at HumanEvents.com, Chuck Norris – who previously supported Gov. Mike Huckabee for the Republican nomination and subsequently endorsed Sen. John McCain for president — references research conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota.

Disclaimer: The Unit for the Study of Personality, an academic student-faculty collaborative research project directed by Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, is operated for research and educational purposes only. The Unit does not advocate the support or defeat of any candidate for any political office. Political analysis published by the director or research associates of the Unit is the personal opinion of those individuals.

The inferences and analysis in the article that follows are those of the author, Chuck Norris. Republishing the article on this blog should not be construed as an endorsement of Mr. Norris’s opinions by Aubrey Immelman or the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics.

Chuck Norris

Obama’s Personality Pendulum

By Chuck Norris
November 21, 2008

Obama will not lose his bid for the presidency because of his connections to Ayers, ACORN or socialist politics. In fact, he won’t lose it because of his stand on any issue. The coup de grace for Obama’s presidential election downfall will come only through convincing the American public of his lack of decisive leadership under pressure. I’m not just talking about facing rogue nations or terrorist thugs. I’m referring to making major choices in conflict. Indecisiveness is his greatest weakness, and it’s one this country cannot afford at this time in its history.

Interestingly, a while back, the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, did a professional personality profile “for anticipating Obama’s likely leadership style as chief executive, thereby providing a basis for inferring the character and tenor of a prospective Obama presidency.” The study concluded:

“The combination of Ambitious, Accommodating, and Outgoing patterns in Obama’s profile suggests a confident conciliator personality composite. Leaders with this personality prototype, though self-assured and ambitious, are characteristically gracious, considerate, and benevolent. They are energetic, charming, and agreeable, with a special knack for settling differences, favoring mediation and compromise over force or coercion as a strategy for resolving conflict. They are driven primarily by a need for achievement and also have strong affiliation needs, but a low need for power.”

While most might laud Obama’s personality as a needed polar opposite to George W. Bush’s, I pose to you that Obama’s “accommodating-conciliator-favoring-compromise” personality pendulum swing is way too far to the other side.

Even Obama’s voting record proves that. His own Democratic colleagues have a difficult time understanding why, when he was an Illinois state senator, he voted “present” (instead of “yes” or “no”) 129 times, including a number of noncommittal tallies on issues such as gun rights and abortion.

You also have heard that Obama doesn’t have any executive experience, whether it be running a government or a business. I would pose to you the reason is simply that he’s not comfortable making executive decisions. An “executive conciliator” overly depends upon others, at times compromising judgment and needed action in order to appease the masses. Proof of that was seen in how Obama handled his and our “emergency” economic decisions. …

A few months ago, Obama did not turn to Warren Buffett for counsel on the housing crisis. As The Washington Post reported July 16, he turned to Franklin Raines, the former Fannie Mae chief executive officer and six-year money manipulator. The Post said Raines took “calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.”

And consider Obama’s handling of the “emergency” bailout crisis. During the first go-round of the bailout, while McCain was certain of his stand, Obama wouldn’t say where he stood because he was afraid it would be a wrong or unpopular stand. Only after most of his political cronies were bribed in favor of the bailout did Obama give it his stamp of approval. If he cannot take decisive action as a senator in the greatest nation on earth, how in the world is he going to make critical and emergency decisions as the president?

Obama’s inability to draw and hold hard lines is the primary reason he repeatedly struggles with — and caves and morphs into — the polls or people in front of him. More than any other politician in history, he has flip-flopped on a host of critical issues: Iraq, Iran, gay rights, NAFTA, abortion, race, religion, gun control, etc. It’s one thing to be political, but it’s quite another to be a chronic people pleaser under pressure. Swaying based on political expediency is not a leadership quality we need in tough times. Sooner or later, that character flaw will bite Obama big-time — and us if we elect him president.

I’m not saying Obama has no continued future in politics. He just needs more experience in life to weed out those character deficiencies. That’s why I’m asking Americans to look afresh at these questions: Is Obama crisis-leadership qualified? Will he truly be ready Jan. 20 to assume the helm of our country?

Actually, those leadership questions have been answered already by three leading Democrats (before they could taste the perks from their alignment with the Democratic presidential nominee). Obama’s own running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, replied only months ago about whether Obama is ready for the presidency: “Right now I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.” Then he later told George Stephanopoulos, “I stand by the statement.” Biden was right.

Before Obama was her party’s choice, Hillary Clinton repeatedly proved him to be an indecisive waffler who couldn’t or wouldn’t be pinned down on any issues. Hillary was right.

Even former President Bill Clinton dodged having to give an affirmative answer to an ABC correspondent when asked whether Obama is ready to be president by saying, “You can argue that no one is ready to be president.” Another smooth answer, Bill. The fact is he totally understands that Obama is not ready.

America is in one of its toughest hours — a market meltdown, the worst fiscal environment since the Great Depression — an economic 9/11, if you will. Do we really believe we can be delivered by an indecisive people pleaser as our country’s CEO?

——————————

8/4/2014 Update

Obama’s Greatest Flaw: America’s Greatest Cost, Part 1

Chuck Norris re-examines president’s personality profile

author-image
By Chuck Norris
World Net Daily
August 3, 2014

I’m not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I’m intrigued by their work, especially when it accurately explains why people do what they do – or can’t do what they would like or are expected to do. Case in point, President Barack Obama.

In 2008, I wrote the column, “A personality profile of Barack Obama’s leadership.” The warnings of mental health professionals then have come to fruition today. And other brain and personality experts, many of whom cast their vote in Obama’s ballot box, have since learned the nation appointed a man to the highest position in the land who cannot lead in or out of crisis, especially in the face of opposing forces.

Six years ago, I pointed to the research of St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics in the Department of Psychology, [which] did a professional personality profile “for anticipating Obama’s likely leadership style as chief executive, thereby providing a basis for inferring the character and tenor of a prospective Obama presidency.” The study concluded:

The combination of Ambitious, Accommodating, and Outgoing patterns in Obama’s profile suggests a confident conciliator personality composite. Leaders with this personality prototype, though self-assured and ambitious, are characteristically gracious, considerate, and benevolent. They are energetic, charming, and agreeable, with a special knack for settling differences, favoring mediation and compromise over force or coercion as a strategy for resolving conflict. They are driven primarily by a need for achievement and also have strong affiliation needs, but a low need for power.

[…]

An “accomodating-agreeable-conciliator-favoring compromise” type of personality might be good for closing a used car deal when all parties are amicable, but not the one that can lead our country through war, decisive and divisive crises, or emergency conflicts that often require unpopular actions.

[…]

Read more at World Net Daily

————————————————

Related reports on this site

Barack Obama’s Presidential Leadership Style (Sept. 8, 2012)

Click on image for larger display

As shown in the pie chart above, Obama is primarily an Ambitious/confident personality, complemented by secondary Accommodating/cooperative, Conscientious/respectful, and Retiring/reserved features.

Barack Obama’s Leadership Style (Feb. 21, 2009)

Barack Obama’s Personality Profile (Nov. 2, 2008)

MUPC_04-18-09_Obama-1.jpg picture by Rifleman-Al





4 Responses to “Chuck Norris Cites Immelman Research on Barack Obama”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » St. Cloud Veterans Day Parade Says:

    […] Chuck Norris, in an article published Oct. 21, 2008 at HumanEvents.com, cited research conducted at Immelman’s Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics. […]

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    […] Two years ago today, on the fifth day of my write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I reported ongoing violence in the Iraq war. I also noted that Chuck Norris, in an article published Oct. 21, 2008 at HumanEvents.com, cited research conducted at my Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics. […]

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    […] Huckabee Supporter Chuck Norris Comments on Barack Obama (Oct. 23, 2008) […]

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    […] On October 23, 2008, I referenced an article at HumanEvents.com by Chuck Norris, in which he cited research conducted at my Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics. […]

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