Oh, they've done it again, those Republicans running for President, they've gotten under my skin. Mittens Romney seems to do it virtually every time he opens his mouth but recently Rick "the former Senator from the 14th Century" Santorum did it to me.
And surprisingly, it wasn't his comment that President Kennedy's speech about separation of church and state almost made him throw up.
And it wasn't his comment that President Obama is a snob because he wants every young person to go to college. (Santorum, by the way, has three college degrees.)
It wasn't his critique of Romney's wealth. (Santorum lives in a home in a rich suburb of Washington, D.C.)
No what got under my skin was a recent campaign appearance in which Santorum stated that when the Republicans nominate a moderate, they always lose. And when they nominate a conservative, they always win.
Senator, does the name Dwight David Eisenhower mean anything to you? He was a moderate Republican and he served two terms as President.
How about the name, Barry Goldwater? He was known as Mr. Conservative when he ran for President in 1964. He lost.
SWMBO said this morning something about Santorum just saying whatever comes to his mind. I said it doesn't have anything to do with his (alleged) mind. He just says these things without even thinking about them.
So enough with Santorum.
Since I brought up that 1964 Goldwater run, I thought I should tell you how I decided who to vote for - Barry or President Lyndon Johnson. After a lot of reading about both men I came to three conclusions. Goldwater was crazy and Johnson was a crook. That's two. Now, which to vote for? I finally concluded that Congress could control a crazy president but not a crook. I voted for Goldwater.
A decade or so later I lived in Arizona and covered Goldwater as a newsman many times. I wrote about him for a national magazine. I went to Washington to cover the "10th anniversary of his non-inaugural" in 1975.
Barry wasn't crazy but he certainly was unelectable as a Republican in 1964, so soon after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
In his final years, Barry pissed off most of the Republican establishment in Arizona as he seemed to become more and more Libertarian. Many people blame his second wife but I think Barry was always that way.
I don't think anyone will ever have fond memories of Rick Santorum.
I was only twelve in '64 and didn't vote for anyone, but I've come to respect President Johnson. He was certainly an old fashion politician who wasn't likely to let legality get in his way, but he did push through civil rights legislation knowing that his party would lose the South for a generation. I think history will consider him a very good president.
ReplyDeleteI must repectfully disagree with Stephen as anecdotes here in Texas regarding LBJ's shennanigans are legendary. He was a crook of the first order. I think civil rights would have happened anyway, but he just happened to be the President when it all came to a head. THAT was a good thing, for sure, but so much of what he did was so awful it in my mind tilts his legacy in the wrong direction.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans have IMO painted themselves into a corner. They're trying to "out-conservative" each other to get the nomination, so much so they'll never be able to get the moderate/independent vote come November. All Obama has to do is let them beat each other up, then swoop in for the prize. Things could still go wrong for him, but it would have to be a collosal catastrophie on the world stage or a nose-dive in the economy for him to lose to any of the Republicans. I guess we'll see in a few months how good a political prognosticator I am, huh? haha!
S
When I was 10 I wrote a letter to Barry Goldwater Jr to ask him with there was so much smog.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad, but I have simply lost interest in the Republican side of things.
ReplyDelete