Posted on 07/10/2008 5:38:33 AM PDT by shrinkermd
This is very reminiscent of the election of 1896, when William McKinley ran against William Jennings Bryan. McKinley too was a genuine war hero (distinguished service in the Civil War) who then entered politics. He served several terms in the House and became chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. In 1891 he was elected governor of Ohio.
His opponent's political résumé was a lot thinner, with only two back-bencher terms in the House. But at the Democratic convention of 1896, Bryan electrified the crowd with his "Cross of Gold" speech. It instantly became an American classic and propelled him to the nomination at just 36 years old, by far the youngest man ever nominated by a major party. Like Mr. Obama, Bryan promised a new politics aimed to benefit the common man, not the capitalists.
He launched the country's first whistle-stop campaign, giving more than 500 speeches around the country. And at first it worked. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had made its debut on May 26 of that year at 40.94, had lost 30% by August, when it stood at 28.48. But the Republicans fought back, utilizing new advertising techniques, and painted Bryan as someone whose populist ideas would wreck the American economy. The Dow began to recover as McKinley picked up support in northern industrial cities, and among ethnic workers who had been previously Democratic. In the end he won with 51% of the popular vote against 47%.
So 1896 turned out to be a watershed election, alright. By rejecting the candidate who advocated change for the candidate who promised
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Didn’t McKinley have some genius at work on his campaign, though, some guy named Mark Hanna or something like that? I think his election is always credit to this operative. Sort of a 19th century Karl Rove.
Problem is, McCain’s team has no geniuses, to put it politely....
This is not an election it’s a joke.
His “presumptive” nomination needs to be confirmed at the convention IIRC. It’s interesting to watch the reverse metamorphosis of the Obamanist Butterfly that attained such reverence early on as it degenerates in the eyes of the Tinkerbelles and stunted Leftist growths.
Hillary patiently awaits in the shadows of thick foliage as a salivating Vulture prepared to pick his bones.
I have posted before IMO to never count the Clinton’s out as they are not behind bars where they belong, as well they are still breathing, not six feet under with weeds growing above them. More now than ever I believe it will be Hillary and McCain butting heads in November.
Her “suspended” campaign will spring back to life in August.
An interesting comparison of McCain vis-a-vis Mr. McKinley. Didn’t Mr. McKinley fail to serve out his term?
Perhaps the choice of a vice-presidential candidate will be as important this year as it was back in 1896....
- John
It was his 2nd term when McKinley was assassinated.
I believe this election is still McCain’s to lose. Obama isn’t even in the same league. Side by side comparing his resume with John McCain Obama leaves even the most ardent supporter wondering, “Is there not more?”. If I were McCain that is the kind of comparison contrast campaign ad I’d run. John McCain volunteers for service in Vietnam, survives as a POW and comes home to serve his country in the Senate versus Obama who I’ve still not figured out the significance of anything he did before elected office. Did he work at a soup kitchen? “Is There Not More?” is the phrase that sticks in my mind for Obama. It is the mantra I’d ram home at every opportunity.
“It is the mantra I’d ram home at every opportunity.”
Too bad the Republicans are not good at “ramming home” anything. They are much too compassionate.
Remember, that was before the Federal Reserve. The only way to inflate the currency then (other than by cutting the gold or silver content of coins) was to coin plentiful silver at an unrealistic ratio to gold. Bryan was an inflationist, just like "Helicopter Bernanke." He just wanted to do it in a different way.
Under the circumstances, Bryan ran very well that year. And while his proposals were unfeasible, he did bring attention to issues that had been previously ignored.
I don’t see Obama doing anything like that. Indeed, his current strength seems to be a reflection of media bias more than anything else.
With all due respect, every single election we’ve had has been called a ‘watershed’ election or some other similar term.
In 1896, the Democrats merged with the People's Party, better known as the Populists. This party was conservative on social issues (biblical fundamentalism) but socialistic on economic issues (nationalizing the railroads). They were an agrarian party. The Democrats had been the party of agriculture but also the party of urban immigrants. The Populists were in favor of closing the floodgates of immigration to preserve America's whiteness and Protestant nature.
The post-Civil War Republican coalition had been fraying for some time. Although the current wisdom of the day was that the Democratic-Populist merger would create a new governing coalition for a generation, Hanna recognized that this marriage was not made in heaven. He saw an opportunity.
In those days, people were abandoning the farms for life in the cities working in factories. And the cities were full of immigrants. So Marc Hanna sent Republican organizers into the cities, men who were able to speak the native languages of the immigrants. These organizers created Polish-American Republican Clubs, Italian-American Clubs, Lithuanian-American Republican Clubs, etc. (My father's side of the family became Republicans when they were recruited into an Italian-American Republican Club in 1908.) It was not only good politics, but also helped the process of assimilation.
Although the Democrats had been the party of urban immigrants, particularly the Irish, their merger with the anti-immigrant anti-Catholic People's Party weakened those ties and made it difficult to hold on to those voters.
Hanna's toehold in the cities permitted McKinley to hold back the Bryan onslaught in the Electoral College, render the new Democrats impotent -- and put together a Republican coalition that would rule for a generation.
Helicopter Ben - glad someone else is aware of what a monkey Ben Bernake is. Everyone is talking about higher commodity prices but are missing what the real culprit is - monetary expansionism.
Now was Alexander Hamilton also an inflationist - it was he that supported the idea of a central bank?
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