Are you enjoying friends, neighbors, and acquaintances of all ages?

Shelley Emling’s 7 ways of impressing people in 60 seconds or less are helpful if, like me, you need to brush up a little on your relational skills. I did well on at least a couple of her 7 tips, however. For example, even thought I’m a senior, I delight in my friends, neighbors, and acquaintances of all ages.

Emling, the editor of Post 50, writes:

No matter what income level they've achieved, some people still don't have a clue as to how to draw others to them. They don't know what to say to put others at ease or how to act in order to electrify a room. But by the time you reach 50, you should know a thing or two about how to impress those around you. People can tell when you feel comfortable in your own skin. And when you feel comfortable in your own skin, you'll give others the confidence they need to be themselves as well. And that's pretty impressive.

Famous folks usually included on lists of the world's most impressive people include Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift and Chris Christie. What do they have in common? All are smart and supremely self-confident.
After consulting with a few very impressive friends, here are seven ways to wow people in 60 seconds or less. Have your own ideas? Tell us about them in comments.

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Clinton Leads in Aggregate of Latest Iowa Polls

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Breaking News: The Des Moine Register will post the results of its latest Iowa poll online at 10:00 pm tonight.

The Los Angeles Times reports an aggregate of the results of the Reuters/Zogby, American Research Group, and McClatchy/MSNBC polls show Clinton with 30% support, Edwards 27% and Obama 26%, a statistical dead heat.

Individual poll results showed:


In the Reuters/Zogby poll, Hillary leads Obama by four points and Edwards by seven points.

The American Research Group's latest poll shows Clinton leading both Obama and Edwards by seven points.

McClatchy/MSNBC differs from the other two polls by showing Edwards, Clinton, and Obama with only a one- or two-point spread.

(The aggregate did not include A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll released last week that showed Sen. Hillary Clinton leading in Iowa at 31 percent, followed by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards at 25 percent and Sen. Barack Obama at 22 percent. The poll was conducted from Dec. 20-23 and Dec. 26-27.)

Charm vs. substance

So who cares about Karl Rove’s opinions anyway? I ask myself, as he heads on down the road where President Bush has promised soon to follow. I’m hooked, though, and Rove’s stuff about Hillary’s “negatives” prompts a quick search of archived NewsHour transcripts at PBS from the 2000 and 2004 campaigns.

Those were the days, you’ll remember, when pollsters and pundits pointed to Bush’s moral character and the indisputable fact that Americans liked him: “He’s the kind of guy you could enjoy sitting down with in a bar and swilling a beer or two,” his supporters were given to boast.

Replying to a question from Margaret Warner in 2000, pollster John Zogby opined: “Well, I think basically if you go back to 1988, that's the classic example. Dukakis never really built up his likeability, therefore it was easy to knock him down. But America likes George W. Bush. They seem to like what they see. And at the same time, they don't like Al Gore very much.”

In the transcript of a David Brooks and Mark Shields analysis from the 2004 campaign, Shields detects change in the air: “I’d add one more thing: George Bush’s likeability edge, which I think everybody acknowledges over John Kerry, and his congeniality and just his naturalness were bigger assets in 2000 than they are in 2004.”

Shields continued: “I think Andy Kohut {pollster} was absolutely right. This is not a popularity contest. He {Kerry} cannot be unlikable, but he’s not going to out charm George Bush.”

Whatever. In 2004 the American electorate allowed charm to trump substance once again by electing Bush to a second term.

August 2007: Charm has worn out its welcome in the White House. An article from CNN online the other day discusses poll results revealing American skepticism of the upcoming Petraeus report on the war in Iraq. The article quotes Polling Director Keating Holland: "It does seem to indicate that anyone associated with the Bush administration may be a less than credible messenger for the message that there is progress being made in Iraq.”

In the end, choosing charm over substance in electing a president appears not to have served our nation well. Hopefully, the majority in our electorate will take the time in the 2008 campaign to evaluate the candidates on the basis of more serious qualities, such as knowledge, wisdom, experience, and genuine compassion ― think Katrina.

Which brings me back to Hillary Clinton. I doubt that anyone will ever describe her as enthusiastically as they did George W. Bush as someone they’d enjoy having a beer with. But, hey, let’s give Hillary a break: Dubya has a lot more experience as a barfly than she does.