Rev. Wright meet Rev. Burchard

Vanity | 5/16/2008 | Contemplator

[contemplator]

History provides examples of so many things. We would like to believe that our lives and events are unique and fresh. The truth is much less alluring. In truth there is little that happens which is truly 'new'. If we look hard enough, we can always find that what we see today has happened to someone else in the past. Sometimes we just have to look a little further back than we want to.As George Santayana quipped, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". Barack Obama should have considered those words very carefully. April 28, 2008 may not seem to have much in common with October 29, 1884 yet those were two dates where history repeated itself - sort of.

Barack can be forgiven for not knowing who Rev. Samuel D. Burchard was or what his ignominious place in history is. After all, how many people today really know that much about James G. Blaine's run against Grover Cleveland for the presidency in 1884? In 1884, Grover Cleveland(D) was in an epic struggle against Mr. Blaine(R) of Maine. A week before the election, Mr. Blaine was to speak in front of a group of Protestant clergy men at the 5th Avenue Hotel in NYC. Introducing him that day was Rev. Burchard. Rev. Burchard must have thought he was in his element because he used his moment in the limelight to rail against the Democrats describing them as "The party of Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion". In today's world, such characterizations might be easily overlooked after all calling the Democrats a bunch of drunks may not earn you many friends, it certainly wouldn't cause a great scandal. In 1884 however; it did. Rev. Burchard in a matter of seconds managed to alienate a good 2/3rds of the country in one fell swoop. In the North, German immigrants who were very partial to their beer were outraged. In the Northeast and spreading throughout the country, Catholics decried the characterization of "Romanists" and in the South the wounds of the Civil War were extremely raw and the use of the word "Rebellion" earned the Rev. no friends there either.

Here is where the past meets the present. Samuel Blaine did not speak those injurious words. Samuel Blaine had never espoused such ideas. Samuel Blaine made a much much greater mistake though - he ignored them. Had he instantly and immediately came out against the Rev. who stood by his side that day, the world would likely remember Samuel Blaine as the 22nd president. instead, Grover Clevelands campaign manager made sure that the Reverand's words were plastered on the front page of every major newspaper in the country just 6 days before the election. How close was the election? Grover Cleveland won by only 25,000 votes out of the almost 10 million cast. New York State, which tipped the election in the favor of Cleveland was won by a difference of only 1,149 votes.

While Rev. Wright has undoubtedly and irrevokably tarnished Barack Obama, the question remains as to whether or not it will cost him the election. In today's terms, Rev. Wright outbursts were much graver and potentially far more damaging than Rev. Burchards were. Barack has one thing on his side that Mr. Blaine did not have in 1884, time. Barack has time to repair the damage, and time will only help to erase the memory of this from the minds of the people. A lot can and will happen between now and November which will focus people's attention away from Rev Wright and cause the memory to fade away. The question now is how Sen. McCain will use the time and if his manager can capitalize on this incident as well as Pres. Clevelands manager did.

[no dems]

No; the McCain camp will NOT capitalize on this. Sir John wants to run a “respectful” campaign.

Do you know where you find Republicans who try to run a “respectful” campaign against the Dems and the MSM? In the “Lost” Column; that’s where.