Smears nothing new in American politics

Oak Lawn (IL) Reporter ^ | 3/18/04 | Michael M. Bates

[Mike Bates]

John Kerry usually looks as though he couldn’t break a smile if you paid him. It’s obvious, though, that the evident Democratic nominee has a roguish sense of humor.

There’s no other way to explain Mr. Kerry’s suggestion that President Bush debate him every month until the election. Teresa’s husband showed he’s got at least 57 varieties of chutzpah in making his request just days after charging that Republicans are crooks and liars. That’s a unique way to win friends, influence people and encourage cooperation.

It also comes less than a month after he told primary opponent John Edwards, who invited Kerry to four debates before Super Tuesday, to get lost. They were unnecessary, Kerry’s spokesperson said, because the entire campaign is itself a debate. The White House can now make the same argument.

Granted, Kerry would benefit by being seen with the president as much as possible. Debates would symbolically elevate the junior senator who, for his entire career, has remained in the shadow of Senator Edward Kennedy. Of course, the only way to get out of Tubby Teddy’s shadow would be to move to a different time zone.

Pundits are predicting that this year’s election, still almost eight months away, will be extraordinarily malicious. "Dirtiest election campaign ever?," asked a New York Daily News article last month. I seriously doubt it. There’s too much competition.

In 1800, many prominent citizens excoriated Thomas Jefferson. The president of Yale University questioned, "Can serious and reflecting men look about them and doubt that, if Jefferson is elected, those morals which protect our lives from the knife of the assassin, which guard the chastity of our wives and daughters from seduction and violence, defend our property from plunder and devastation and shield our religion from contempt and profanation, will not be trampled upon?"

Andrew Jackson and his wife were accused of adultery in the 1828 election. Jackson was also widely denounced as a murderer. Abraham Lincoln was assailed as a baboon, an imbecile, a perjurer, a butcher and a tyrant, among other things.

In 1928, Roman Catholic Al Smith, ran for president. Harry Truman, surely no stranger to vitriol, claimed Smith’s nomination "set off the most vicious anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, anti-Negro movement that we have ever had in any political campaign . . .there was more slander and mudslinging going on than at any time I can remember."

Harry was an authority on slander and mudslinging. An example is when he likened his 1948 Republican opponent to Adolph Hitler.

For my money, one of the dirtiest campaigns took place in 1960 among the Democratic candidates. The late Victor Lasky documented much of what happened in his excellent book, "J.F.K. The Man & The Myth."

Minnesota’s Senator Hubert Humphrey was a top candidate against John Kennedy in the primaries. He announced: "I don’t have any daddy who can pay the bills for me. I can’t afford to run around this state (West Virginia) with a little black bag and a checkbook. I don’t think elections should be bought. They’re spending with wild abandon."

The editor of the Logan Banner claimed the West Virginia primary was "one of the most corrupt elections in county history" and payoffs "ranged anywhere from $2 and a drink of whiskey to $6 and two pints of whiskey for a single vote."

Kennedy’s forces hit back at Humphrey, charging he was a draft dodger during World War II. That wasn’t accurate; Humphrey had a deferment, as many fathers of three children did. When he volunteered for the Navy he failed the physical. These facts were irrelevant to JFK backer Franklin Roosevelt, Jr.: "There’s another candidate in your primary. He’s a good Democrat, but I don’t know where he was in World War II." Candidate Kennedy stated that no one had contributed more to an honest discussion of the issues than his pal Roosevelt.

Robert Kennedy, his brother’s manager, asserted Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa was backing Humphrey. Hubert’s response was, "This is just cheap, low-down, gutter politics."

The Kennedys later claimed Hoffa was backing Senate majority leader Lyndon Johnson. The Texan denounced the rumors as "constant, crude efforts to smear candidates by association." He also noted the Kennedys had "been running against Mr. Hoffa for several years now . . . the closer we get to the nomination, the hotter their breath becomes."

Lyndon was not going to be outdone in the dirty politics department, of course. He attacked JFK’s father: "I never thought Hitler was right. I was never any (Neville) Chamberlain umbrella man." Johnson campaign chief John Connally called a press conference to announce John Kennedy was hiding the fact he suffered from Addison’s disease.

No, the presidential election of 2004 won’t be setting any records. At least not in terms of nastiness.

[Puppage]

It’s obvious, though, that the evident Democratic nominee has a roguish sense of humor

ie a lying, philandering putz? A real man would call that an A-hole. If George Patton were alive he'd slap that boy.

[Mike Bates]

If George Patton were alive he'd slap that boy.

Or worse.

[Maria S]

Good article; I needed to read it just to put things in perspective!

[Mike Bates]

Thanks for taking the time to read it.