At least that seems to be his argument:
Looking back over the last 40 years, the presidential campaign that most closely resembles this year’s is the contest between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in 1976. . . . .
The Republican president who had been elected and re-elected in the last two campaigns, Richard Nixon, had dismal favorability ratings, far lower than George W. Bush’s. His name could scarcely be mentioned at the Republican National Convention. The Democratic nominee was a little-known outsider. . . .
It’s worth reading the whole thing, considering the source is the principal author of the definitive guide to American politics — who bummed a light from me after the 2007 Bradley Awards ceremony. (Shameless name-dropping alert!)
