The presidential past needs to stay there
Political strategists have always been tempted to invoke images of past Presidents to bolster the image of their candidate. None more strongly than the notion of the Reagan Republicans, but in the present election such ploys just seem out of place and petty. In this post by David Weigel he discusses that latest quip fired back comparing Obama to Carter. The overwhelming rhetoric for this campaign has been change and that’s exactly what we need to be focusing on. We can argue for the next hundred the Presidency of George W. Bush and entering into the war in Iraq. But guess what people IT DOESN’T MATTER. Really it doesn’t matter anymore, that one thing I wish people we get through their heads. It doesn’t matter it a reality and we need to deal with it, plain and simple. As a nation we can’t move forward without letting go of the past. So when people say they want change the campaign season I think that is what the people deserve. The Obama campaign was the first to strike such a blow saying the McCain would be Bush’s third term. Does anyone actually believe that? And really we should be basing our decisions this year not about clever sound bites and impressions of past images, we should be better than this. Unfortunately we are getting sucked back in as McCain fires back at Obama
“You know one of his favorite phrases is that I would be a Bush third term. Well I think maybe his proposals could be Carter second term,”
I really believe that this serves no greater good, everyone knows the Carter years were terrible, everyone feels dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq. We need something new and which ever candidate can come up with that is likely going to win over the people. The message of change, however, is not the new that I am referring to, just follow this link to a short TV ad run by the Carter campaign. (Thanks Jennifer) Is it too much to ask for a simple campaign run on the merits and past records. Well when you look at it from that point of view I can understand why the Obama campaign is firing off sound bites he has little record to speak and was out campaigning for the presidency while important votes were being made in Congress. What this essentially tells me is that we are going to have to put up with BS slinging and which ever candidate gets the last slap in before the buzzer is going to be President. There is this theory however in political science that suggests that no matter who gets elected we are essentially getting the same president because after being elected the person generally will move his policies to the center to avoid further polarization. Giving that context I guess it really doesn’t matter what image you’re trying to perpetuate because they all bleed together in the end. This I feel may be the tragedy of politics in the modern era. I agree with Ms. Rubin this strategy should not work for either candidate.
