Politicians and the art of apology

Barack Obama
US President Barack Obama speaks during the National Governors Association meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 27, 2012.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Obama received a lot of flak for apologizing about the Quran burnings in Afghanistan. We wanted to know: Why are apologies so difficult politically?

Lauren Bloom, author of "The Art of the Apology," will be on The Daily Circuit Wednesday to talk about the significance of political apologies.

"President Obama generally does really well," Bloom said in LiveScience. "He doesn't delay. If he makes a mistake he admits it immediately and apologizes. He's got the vernacular down: He talks like a real person, which makes him much more credible."

Veteran presidential advisor Stephen Hess will also join the discussion.

"The trick is always to apologize for something the country did when you weren't president," Hess said in the Washington Post. "What is remarkable is apologizing for something that has happened while you were president."

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