THE FINAL WORD: McCain is a Three -- that's why he's all over the place, trying to read his audience and be all things to all people. He's playing the role of a "Maverick", but he's an empty suit. Even the suggestion that he's an Eight indicates a lack of any real understanding of the Enneagram. Palin is a Six -- a scrappy fighter. Obama and his wife are Sixes, but they are intelligent Sixes, not fanning people's fears like George Bush. Forget about the wings for now. You all need to brush up on just your basic understanding of the nine types.

Anna

Anna, sorry but I can't say I agree with *any* of your assessents.

McCain is hard to type, but definitely not a 3. He displays none of the slick, polished attributes that are essential, and core, to the 3. In fact, he displays just the opposite of the classic 3 attributes. Don't know where you get the idea that being "all over the place" equates to a 3! Read up on your Riso/Hudson stuff -- they are the Bible of the Enneagram, simply because they're the most prolific and have been at it longer than just about any in the US.

I will grant that McCain as a man is hard to type, but he has to fit somewhere, and most of his public persona fits somewhere along the 7-8 arc. Indeed, the epithet given to 8w7 in some of the Riso/Hudson writings is "Maverick" -- and long before McCain was the GOP presidential nominee.

Please see my comments on Palin. I'm still dissecting her. She shows some 7 qualities, but I'm strongly leaning towards 3.

I strongly believe that you cannot simply take a static snapshot at a person's current personality as displayed in the brief media glimpses we get. You must look at their life background, family relationships, and especially their intellectual interests and career arc. Palin seems to fit "3" for a number of reasons. Look at her high school and college careers. She was an extremely ambitious and competitive girl. She chose to enter a beauty contest, chose to study journalism and then become a TV sports anchor. All together, a *very* 3 profile.

Don't see how labeling her a "scrappy fighter" fits with the style she's actually shown. Scrappy in what way? Sounds like you may agree with her politically, or at least you're giving her the benefit of the doubt vis-a-vis her authenticity. I don't see that. In fact, I don't see any real authenticity there, and that would be a prerequisite to being "scrappy".

Instead, Palin is calculated, highly scripted, and image conscious in the extreme. I'll go with 3.

-Joe Tangredi

OK, Anna, I see now where you got the "all over the place" thing regarding McCain.

Three's are indeed chameleon-like, as mentioned in the descriptions on this site, and that can give an "all over the place" impression of trying to please everyone.

However, the difference between a 3 and McCain, is that the chameleon-like behavior of the 3 is slick, polished, and BELIEVABLE. It is not desperate, erratic, and forced.

The 3 almost effortlessly blends in with his surroundings, and the groups he is trying to impress. It's not for nothing that this behavior is called "chameleonlike". It's like the talent of a very good actor. Almost an ability to don different suits, or masks, and completely persuade others that you fit the "role", whatever the role happens to be that day.

In McCain we see a man who is highly ambitious (no doubt -- look at his entire life and career arc). He has something to prove. These traits classically could be 6 or 8 (or even 1).

The difference between a 3, like Bill Clinton, and what we see in McCain, is that Clinton was able to slickly impress people and be the real "chameleon", effortlessly sidling into different milieus and reassuring different groups of people. When you think of a 3, think "the perfect actor". A man or woman who is so supremely confident of himself or herself, that all he/she has to do is show up and people are convinced.

THAT quality is nowhere to be found in McCain. I want to call McCain an 8 because of his very strong "alpha" personality, but generally 8's are in control of things. McCain obviously isn't, but that may just because this is a bad time to be running as Republican candidate for president. His campaign has spun out of control. Some of that may be due to his erratic "7" streak (for lack of a better diagnosis). Indeed, if McCain is either an 8 with a very strong 7 wing, or a 7 with a very strong 8 wing, this could be the explanation. The "maverick" streak is so strong in his personality, that despite his strong 8 qualities, he cannot control his impulses, hence the erratic behavior. Which you may be defining as being "all over the place" -- but his is a very different type of being all over the place than what you would see in a 3!

-Joe Tangredi