No more mister nice guy
(Dan here…lifted from Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts)
by Robert Waldmann
Nomoremisterniceblog almost states the bitter truth, but he’s too nice to tell us what fools we are.
He wrote:
I don’t want to relitigate the McGovern and Mondale campaigns, but Dukakis? “Free everything and impossible promises” weren’t what defeated him.
My comment
I want to relitigate events of 1984, which Delaney has sent down the memory hole. Mondale was not hammered because he made promises he couldn’t keep. He said he was going to talk to us like grownups. He said he was going to increase taxes (but not increase taxes on families with income under $ 30,000 which would be about $60,000 now with inflation).
So the people of the USA had to choose between a serious guy who told us the truth and the guy who promised that lower taxes meant higher revenues. It is obvious that most voted for Reagan who made absurd promises which he obviously couldn’t keep.
Now there have been Democratic candidates who promised to reduce the deficit and reduce taxes on most families — Clinton and Obama ‘– exactly the two non incumbent Democrats who won when the Income tax was constitutional and the top rate was under 55%. Obama also actually delivered (not that many people noticed) while Clinton was suddenly (not permanently) unpopular when Rubin convinced him we couldn’t afford a middle class tax cut.
Unlike her husband, Hillary Clinton was honest about budgetary and political limits. Unlike his wife, Bill Clinton was elected President.
The lesson is simple. Don’t treat the US public like adults. Do make promises, including some you can’t keep. The data are clear. Anyone who lives in the real world knows this. Only dreamers like Delaney, Dukakis, Mondale, Gore think you can win as the speaker of inconvenient truths.
Further on in that post..
“American politics is much more fevered now than it was in 1988. Everyone, across the political spectrum, is angry, or at least disgruntled. Do we want cool and competent?
I think we want that even less than we did in 1988, which is why I question Ed Kilgore’s contention that Klobuchar could conceivably have a breakout moment if things go right for her:
‘A less crowded debate stage would definitely give Klobuchar a better opportunity to contrast her very practical executive-order-heavy agenda of things she’d do in her first 100 days in office with all those big, bold progressive proposals from others that would require (as Bernie Sanders admits) a “political revolution” to get anywhere.
… if she gets a lot of breaks and takes full advantage of them, Klobuchar might get a look as a potential nominee who is strong but not shout-y, smart but relatable. [She could] stand out as unbreakable and electable in the hothouse atmosphere of the 2020 race….’
I don’t see it. Most of America would love to be rid of our all-id, perpetual-rage president, but I think voters want a candidate who’ll shout at least once in a while, in the appropriate circumstances. It’s not a good moment for Klobuchar.”
I certainly agree with Robert’s view on Klobuchar. We need an attack dog. And we need him or her to attack trump in every possible way, but most importantly is to call him a racist at every possible opportunity.
Of course, the next important thing is to present the campaign platform, but the attacks are far more important in driving Dem voter turnout higher.
My campaign bumper sticker would be:
“Don’t Let The Racists WIn!”
Minor modification;
“Don’t let white terrorists and racists win!”
If we had a press that actually bothered to understand the issues and hold politicians accountable, being honest with voters might work. But our press does not do that. The press plays on theatrics and personalities – likely because they have more of an eye on ratings than doing their damn job. And the person who gets this the most is Donald Trump.
Yes Reagan’s Morning in America was about as dishonest as it gets. And it worked because few called out its implicit dishonesty. But guess what – the 2020 campaign is going to have a lot of over the top lies from Team Trump. Get ready.
“He ran on a capitalist revival (the so-called Massachusetts Miracle, a tech-driven rejuvenation of his state’s economy). ”
As I recall Dukakis proposed getting rid of capital gains taxes. That sent me screaming to the hills that this clown was to the right on George H.W. Bush on the voodoo economics thing. How on earth did we end up with him as our nominee?
Same in the U.K. Make ridiculous claims and we end up with Brexit.
Tasker:
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