The presidential campaign of 1976 between the incumbent Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter was coming down to the wire when the ex-president, Richard Nixon, pardoned two years earlier by Ford, announced that he would go again to China, and go at the time of the election. He was strongly criticized for shamelessly drawing attention back to himself and the Watergate crimes--and his pardon--at the very time the man who had unpopularly pardoned him desperately wanted the voters to forget all that and concentrate on voting Republican one more time. Nixon went, Ford lost. Most certainly this was not simple cause and effect, but it illustrated the presumed negative influence of a failed president on the next election.
This all comes to mind with the news that George W. Bush's presidential memoir will be released on Tuesday, November 9th, precisely one week after this year's mid-term elections. Book publishing being what it is today, it is reasonable to assume that there will be leaks of juicy parts and even sales of Dubya's scribbling before Election Day, with
Republicans everywhere being called upon for comment on the late Bush Administration's policies about this and that and everything. The exactly last thing they wish to discuss now, then, or ever. Roll the presses!
No comments:
Post a Comment