Carter and Clinton Elections: Was the Politics This Dirty?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

The Bush family has singlehandedly placed slime politics in a dominant position in our national life, by using the modern emperors of slime, the late Lee Atwater and now Karl Rove.

Now I'm not naive enough to think there hasn't been slime and dirty tricks as long as there's been politics. But I don't remember sleaze and smear playing such a prominent role until recently.

Any veterans of the political wars in the 60's on through the present have comments about this?

[ironman202]

1. you know i was thinking earlier today

the the 1980 Ronald Reagan would not recognize the modern Republican party.

[Totally Committed]

6. He is the Father of what we see today...

Reaganomics and other items of his foreign and domestic agenda were what emboldened and abetted Newt Gingrich the Republican Revolution of 1994 that began the takeover of Washington.

Ronald Reagan seemed genial, simple, and gregarious. He was able to give that impression because of his Machiavellian sycophants and inner circle that did all his evil bidding for him. Or maybe he really was demented even then. Who knows?

But a sentient Ronald Reagan would know EXACTLY what he was looking at today, and would applaud it.

[depakid]

7. Hell, he helped make it!

and I suspect the fool would like what he saw.

Objective historians will look back on Reagan as the person who ended the American enlightenment and set his country on the path toward irrationality and economic and environmental disaster. Far from being lionized- he'll be viewed as even worse than Geaorge W. Bush...

[ironman202]

9. yeah you're right

it's the the proximity of the current mess that makes it seem so much worse. The arms race was way more perilous than our current situation.

[wli]

10. what, you forgot the "October Surprise?"

There's a bit of web material on that, too.

ON EDIT: Oh, yes, don't forget DCIA showing up as VP shortly after it was banned.

[coloradodem2005]

2. I know Carter said...

...that when he ran both times, it wasn't even close to as bad as it is now.

[Lisa]

12. he did have that briefing book incident, though ...

And the GOP made use of the materials. (By contrast, in the 2000 election, when something similar occurred the Dems bent over backwards to not benefit from that ... the guy who'd unknowingly opened the stuff from an anonymous source even recused himself.)

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/views01/0309-02.htm


But I don't recall hearing a ceaseless barrage from right-wing talking heads back then. There actually were journalists who'd do intelligent analysis.

[Melodybe]

3. Two words Iran Contra

Iran took the hostages, then made a deal with Poppy to release them on the first day of Regan's administration in return for nukes.

That's where the phrase October suprise comes from, repug floated that Carter had made a deal and would get the hostages back in October, therefore setting him up to lose.

Oh and don't forget Kissenger and Negroponte's role in all Iran Contra, the nukes were bought with drug money.

[NewJeffCT]

19. I thought October surprise came from Nixon

you know, kissinger coming back from Vietnam to say there will be peace in our time, only to have it fall apart right after the election...

[Kahuna]

4. What kills me is that they use religion to slime people...

America is doomed.

[etherealtruth]

5. Maybe Nixon ...

...but, I was just a kid ...

The first election I really remember is Carter Vs. Reagan; though I love Jimmy Carter I wouldn't characterize his presidency as a political success. I don't recall a true "slime factor" (was it because it wasn't necessary for Reagan to win?)

I think you may have a good point about the Bush's making the rough world of politics UGLIER than it had been and UGLIER than it needs to be ------ I remember the attacks on Michael Dukakis and and the Clinton attacks.

Think about how the Chimp turned up the UGLY politics against McCain ...

[napi21]

8. I definately was NOT as bad as now!

I can't recall where I heard this, bur a question was asked "When will this ever stop?"

The answer was "When it quite working!"

I hate to admit it, but that's the real truth!!!!

[Jade Fox]

11. No. It started with George the First's first campaign.....

Ironically, his second campaign was not as dirty. And Clinton won.

[bluedog]

14. right.bushs sr got dirty but

when I heard bushy boy himself was running......just the look on his freaking face said alot.......

he was an arrogant ass then in texas and still is.......when I heard about him blaming the Democratic party for stealing his "debate" tapes....thats when I figured that this man was the man from hell.....he was going to win at any cost......

and I was right.......the lies the cheating...he "won"(???) the past two elections and thinks he can't be brought down........a rich boy who never worked a hards day in his life and had the world handed to him on a golden platter!

[blm]

13. The difference is that NOW the GOP controls most broadcast media.

Media giants weren't owned by huge defense industry contractors like GE, or fascists and fanatics like Murdoch and Moon.

[sandnsea]

17. I agree

How could we have scoffed at Rush Limbaugh. That's one of those, if you could go back in time questions, where could he have been stopped...

[samsingh]

15. yes to both

some say that the repugs made a deal with Iran to hold the hostages until Reagan took office.

[Pepperbelly]

16. Waaaaaaaaaaaay back, LBJ said that the only things Republicans ...

cared about were cutting taxes and investigating Democrats.

The Bush machine in '92 uncorked on Clinton, scouring Arkansas for any dirt they could find or, barring that, any they could buy. What's new today is the acquiescence of the news media in partisan disinformation.

[no_hypocrisy]

18. I'll break it down by election years.

1976: Carter v. Gerald Ford. No. Ford was too nice a guy and was the last progressive republican running for president. And republicans were smarting from the Nixon resignation. They couldn't look like sore losers.

1980: Carter v. Ronald Reagan. No. Reagan had to look like the proverbial cowboy dressed in white buckskins, riding up to save America from its lost image of superiority taken away by the Iranian hostage-takers, high interest rates, and a true Christian in the White House. Reagan looked and talked tough and outraged. Anything else would've been overkill.

1992: Carter v. Bill Clinton. Yes. They tried by hunting down Gennifer Flowers, the Arkansas lounge singer, and giving her a platform to warn America not to vote for an adulterer as she claimed that Clinton had been having an affair with her for years. They also tried to make Hillary out to be too feminist to bake chocolate chip cookies. But the Clinton Camp was expecting this (and who knows, maybe more) and immediately spiked the ball over the net every time. They were prepared and won without having to lose time, money and effort to a defensive campaign.