WASHINGTON -- With the leading candidates for the Democratic
nomination charging each other with racial bigotry, I think it is
safe to observe that 2008 will not be a progressive year in the
Democratic Party. Increasingly the Clinton campaign puts me in mind
of presidential campaigns waged by the late segregationist George
Wallace. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton even has Wallace's surly
style. Yet Wallace was rarely accused of lying. Hillary is caught
lying every few days, and the lies are not even as clever as those
of her mendacious husband, the sex maniac. Of course, when the fur
ceases to fly over these racial charges, I think it will be clear
that Hillary is not nearly the bigot Wallace was, but neither is
she as nice a person. I cannot think of one of Governor Wallace's
household pets disappearing under mysterious circumstances.
Moving over to the Republican race, none of the candidates has
yet to charge another with racial bigotry. None has done
oppositional research on an opponent's kindergarten records. And
none has been caught raising campaign funds through a Chop Suey
Connection. Yet, we have repeatedly heard the ugly charge of
flip-floppery flung about wantonly, and it is not a reference to
casual footwear but to casual dissembling on issues. In fact, every
candidate still in the Republican race has been accused of
flip-floppery, occasionally using multiple feet.
Thus far the 2008 campaign in both parties is very
unsatisfactory. Something is missing, and, as I see it, that
something is dignity. At this stage Senator John McCain and Senator
Barack Obama come closest to displaying dignity; but even they fall
short, owing to the environment in which they must operate, an
environment shaped by a prima donna electorate and a press that
encourages soap opera. Both are the consequence of idiotic state
caucuses or state primaries, inflated into circuses by enormous
sums of money, and all lacking in party discipline. It is time to
return to nominating presidential candidates in national political
conventions, the same kind of conventions that gave us Roosevelts
and Eisenhower and the 1960 race between Kennedy and Nixon -- a
very classy affair compared to today's infantile
confrontations.
Today national conventions are a thing of the past because
mid-20th century reformers accused them of being undemocratic.
Actually, they were as democratic as today's caucuses and
primaries. Moreover, they reduced the need for the vast fundraising
operations that are our contemporary reformers' nightmare. Most of
the delegates at national conventions were chosen democratically at
their state conventions, where party platforms were pounded out and
presidential nominees chosen. The enormous expense of media
advertising and get-out-the-vote drives was unnecessary, as most of
the participants were volunteers, loyal party members, or
public-spirited citizens prevailed upon by neighbors to get
involved as Democrats or Republicans.
What is more, seasoned politicians were influential every step
of the way, right up to the convention. In the time of competitive
national political conventions, presidential candidates still had
to campaign throughout the nation but at far less expense. Then
once the national convention was convened, they had to present
themselves to each state delegation. Reformers inveighed against
the spectacle of floor demonstrations, with delegates wearing silly
hats and parading up the aisles, but such high jinks were harmless,
far less expensive than today's vast media buys, and turned up
presidential nominees far more impressive than today's poseurs.
Reading Arthur Schlesinger's Journals, I came across
the now-deceased historian's observations of JFK at the 1960
Democratic national convention. Kennedy was in a pretty good
position to win the nomination, but he had to present himself to
state delegations nonetheless. He particularly disrelished visiting
the segregationist Southerners, but he did so. He already had a
sense of what they were like but now had an opportunity to review
his estimates of them. They, in turn, got a sense of him. This was
not an costly blitz through a primary state, accompanied by
expensive and misleading media barrages and transient opportunities
to embarrass his rivals. It was a serious meeting among Democrats
who were deeply involved in governing their states. It was adult
politics.
If our reformers really want to end the nightmare of $100
million primary campaigns and the trashiness of this primary
season, they will bring us back to the good old days of national
political conventions that really matter. I long to see candidates
in silly hats rather than in silly situations.
topics:
John McCain, Barack Obama, Environment, NATO
