"You might as well have watched it on a black-and-white TV.”
Posted on 09/06/2012 8:33:43 AM PDT by Aspenhuskerette
In 1950, a candidate for Congress in Florida named George Smathers reportedly gave speeches to rural, uneducated voters and accused his incumbent opponent, Claude Pepper, of being “a known extrovert” who practiced “celibacy” before marriage, practiced “nepotism” with his sister-in-law, “matriculated” with women in college and had a sister who was “a thespian” and brother who was “a practicing homo sapien.”
In the world of political campaigns, the story is legendary. In truth, what we know today is that Smathers crushed Pepper in that election. What we don't know for sure is what role those speeches played, if any, in his win over the popular incumbent.
Sadly, I'm inclined to think those cynical words, which both insulted and pandered to an electorate at the same time, did influence the outcome of that race. And I believe that for the simple reason that those same cynical techniques remain in practice today.
(Excerpt) Read more at aspentimes.com ...
Obama channels Gilligan...
Well, it WORKED that time, didn’t it? Of course Smathers could have just called him a Commie...they didn’t call him “Red Pepper” for no reason!;)
This is a very well written article. Thanks for posting it.
"You might as well have watched it on a black-and-white TV.”
I thought the headline had misspelled “Smithers”, as in Mr. Burns’ asst. on The Simpsons.
Obama would be a natural at that role, I’m reasonably sure...
No doubt the same crowd who votes for the FOREIGNER.
As I recall, that speech never happened but was “too good” not to be “true”. Smathers chased skirts with JFK and sold his house to Nixon, his best friends in the Senate. He had a mostly poor record on civil rights but could break from his fellow Southern Democrats. He was a pretty distasteful individual all in all. His anti communist rhetoric did get him by Red Peppers.
In that same election, Rep. Helen Gahagan Douglas (R-Calif.), a leftie known as the "Pink Lady" lost her bid for a Senate seat to Rep. Richard Nixon (R-Calif.), and Rep. Vito Marcantonio (R-NY), who slavishly followed the Communist Party line also lost his previously save House seat. The 1950 election, coming as it did in the wake of the fall of China, the detonation of a nuclear device by the Soviets, a string of spy scandals and the outbreak of the Korean War, was not a good one for pinkos and lefties.
Well, to be honest, Obama IS a cunning linguist.
(As long as TOTUS is near by.)
Wow, does that bit of political history bring back memories.
Claude Pepper’s sister taught history in my junior high school.
Poor woman - looked exactly like her brother, which was almost a crime against nature.
I have seen reliable reports from people who ought to know; that Obama masticates regularly at the dinner table, even when his daughters are present. Additionally, I’ve fielded several reports stating that his wife Michelle, habitually parades around with her epidermis exposed and doesn’t care who sees it. It appears the children are learning to parrot this unfortunate behavior. This is the sort of thing folks can expect from those who indulge in ‘hip-hop’ music.
Looks intersting..save for later.
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