STOP X | 2006-02-05
My last post on Hillary reminded me of another rule I have observed in presidential elections.
During every presidential election campaign all the paid commentators forget what really happened in the ones before it. The nomination of a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts by the Democrats last time is just one more in this weary line of repeat mistakes.
Despite all the scandals and "Clinton weariness" the Democrats almost won in 2000 because they nominated a Southerner. The last Northerner the Democrats elected tothe presidency was Teddy Kennedy, and they had to steal that one and have Lyndon Johnson on the ticket specifically to the South.
Clinton is a political genius. He defied ALL the rules by picking Al Gore as his running mate in 1992. Rule 1 is that you need goegraphical balance. A Southerner was especially supposed to need somebody VERY un-Southern to balane him off.
Clinton made it very, very clear that his was a SOUTHERN ticket, because, unlike everybody else, he was aware of the presidential history of his entire lifetime. Even Harry Truman had Confederate ancestors.
Antoehr rule that will save you listening to lot of Learned Commentaries is the discussionof a Stop Nixon or a Stop Goldwater or a Stop Bush or a Stop Clinton movement that comes up a couple of months before the convention.
When a Stop X Movement gets under way, it means X has the nomination sewed up.