Saturday, September 27, 2008

Too Great For Two Terms

As pundits get over the shock of John McCain not soiling himself - and polls reveal that "middle class" means more than "surge," the question as far as historic parallels are concerned is going to shift from which Democratic candidate does Obama resemble to which Democratic president. McCain recalled the elder George Bush (grumpy old man unenthusiastically pushing a two-termer's tired philosophy) enough that you wondered whether Obama was Clinton or Dukakis. Unless McCain is actually Aaron Burr, I think we got this one locked.

To sooth my remaining history-based concern, I really want to read up on the Carter administration, and see if there are some flagrant differences between his and Obama's sensibilities and practices. I'd love to stop imagining Obama competing for the title of Most Admirable One-Termer, with Romney as Reagan.

2 comments:

Alfred Soto said...

Check out Walter Karp's Liberty Under Siege. It shows how Congressional Dems collaborated with the GOP to undermine Carter (who comes off as not entirely blameless himself). That's the best book I've read about a really weird time, and one surrounded by so much bullshit that the definitive bio or history hasn't been written yet.

The Manthony said...

Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely check it out.