It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Nineteen
First published in November 2012
"A Non Reaganite Follows Reagan"
George Bush, also known as George H.W. Bush, or George Bush (Sr.), had been vice president during Ronald Reagan's two terms. Bush had come from a well to do family, where public service was seen as a noble pursuit, and his father had been a senator from Connecticut. Before becoming vice president, George Bush had a substantial public service resume, which included being an ambassador, a congressman, head of the CIA, and chairman of the Republican Party. Bush was generally a moderate Republican, although being appointed GOP chairman by President Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation and Nixon's disgrace would have left anyone a bit beleaguered. Bush had spent much of his adult life in Texas, where he was in the oil business. During the 1980 Republican nominating process, George Bush was seen by moderate and left of center Republicans (there were still such back then) as the best alternative to Ronald Reagan and the strengthening conservative wing of the Republican Party. Reagan won the nomination early on, but Bush left a mark by describing as "voodoo economics" Reagan's claim that large tax cuts and big increases in defense spending would produce balanced budgets.
Bush was seen by many as the natural Republican candidate for the presidency in 1988, although some conservatives wanted to push a constitutional amendment which would have allowed Reagan to run for a third term. After some early setbacks in the process, Bush recovered, although he turned to the tax issue to gain the upper hand. Reagan and his supporters had cultivated the untrue image of Reagan as an ardent opponent of tax increases,* and, like it, not like it, it worked. Bush hammered major opponent, Senator Bob Dole, over the tax issue, while fending off social conservative Pat Robertson, a televangelist. Bush (and Democrats) faced a somewhat different Republican Party in 1988. The growing conservative element wanted no new taxes, if not outright additional tax cuts, in spite of huge deficits, and the socially conservative part of the political right pushed their issues, like opposition to abortion and advocating prayer in public schools, to the fore, something they had never done with Reagan. In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, Bush, not on the same public speaking level with Reagan, promised to hold his "charisma in check" and not to raise taxes, "Read my lips... no new taxes." In something of a play to the political right of the GOP, Bush chose little known and young Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate.**
Democrats, out of the White House for eight years, nominated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, as former front runner, Senator Gary Hart, dropped out after a love affair hit the news and Senator Ted Kennedy had declined to run. Dukakis chose Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate. Bentsen was a seasoned veteran, while Dukakis seemed to be anything but warm and fuzzy.
While the economy had been somewhat jittery, unemployment was low and Americans seemed to be satisfied with Republican rule, although early polls showed a lead for Dukakis. The budget deficits were very high, but neither Reagan, Bush, nor Republicans in general, seemed inclined to do anything to staunch the flow of red ink, although always claiming to be against budget deficits and Keynesian economics. (In fairness, Democrats didn't want to do much either.) During the campaign, Dukakis, fearful of GOP attacks accusing him of being soft on defense, appeared in a television ad riding in a tank, wearing a helmet. The ad drew laughs from many, as some compared Dukakis's image to Peanut character, "Snoopy." Then in one of the debates, Dukakis, who opposed the death penalty, was asked if he'd continue to oppose it, even if his wife were raped and killed. Dukakis's technocratic answer, citing statistics unfavorable to the death penalty, only served to reinforce his image as not having an emotional connection to the electorate. While elections usually don't turn on vice presidential candidates, Democrats went after the young and inexperienced Dan Quayle, and the senator played into their hands by comparing his experience to John ("Jack") F. Kennedy, who ran for the presidency while a young senator. Lloyd Bentsen quickly retorted, "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. You're no Jack Kennedy." The remark was cutting, and Quayle's image never recovered in the public mind, but the debate did nothing to advance Democratic hopes to defeat the Republicans. In the end, the coalition assembled by Reagan and Republicans triumphed, as Bush received more than 53% of the popular vote to less than 46% for Dukakis. Presidents are actually chosen by the electoral college, and in that, Bush had a landslide of 426 to 111,*** carrying 40 states to 10, plus the District of Columbia, for Dukakis.
Republicans retained the White House.
* It was untrue, because Reagan had agreed to numerous moderate tax increases during his time as president, although often under the guise of "revenue enhancements." Calling something by another name doesn't change what it is, but Reagan had at least shown himself willing to raise taxes to combat the large budget deficits run during his terms.
** Bush's choice of Quayle ended up not hurting his election chances, although, if I remember right, one Republican political strategist noted sarcastically something to the effect, "Well, at least we know we'll carry Indiana." The point was, Indiana tends to be a very Republican state, so nothing was gained by Quayle's selection, as he was from that Republican state.
*** One elector voted for Bentsen for president.
WORD HISTORY:
Wreak-This word traces back to Indo European "wreg," which had to notion of "to hunt, to chase, to drive against (shove)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wrekanan," which meant "to chase, to drive against, to shove," with the further development of "to punish" (often by exile; that is, "driving/forcing out," thus also, "avenge." This gave Old English "wrecan," along with variations of the same, which had to do with "avenge, revenge," and this later became modern "wreak," still most commonly used in expressions denoting "bring about vengeance" or "cause damage," as in, "The storm is expected to wreak damage on the area," or, "The jury wants to wreak retribution on the scoundrel." Other Germanic languages have: German "rächen" (to avenge) and the noun "Rache" (vengeance, revenge); at least some Low German dialects have "Rach" (vengeance); Dutch "wreken" (to avenge) and the noun "wraak" (revenge, vengeance); West Frisian "wreke" (to avenge) and "wrek" (revenge); Swedish "vräka" (evict; that is, a specific punishment, with ties to the old meaning "drive against/shove"). I could not find modern versions in Danish, Norwegian or Icelandic. Interestingly, German and Low German have dropped the "w," and Swedish uses a form for a specific punishment/revenge, rather than the general notion of revenge/punishment used by its other Germanic cousins.
"A Non Reaganite Follows Reagan"
George Bush, also known as George H.W. Bush, or George Bush (Sr.), had been vice president during Ronald Reagan's two terms. Bush had come from a well to do family, where public service was seen as a noble pursuit, and his father had been a senator from Connecticut. Before becoming vice president, George Bush had a substantial public service resume, which included being an ambassador, a congressman, head of the CIA, and chairman of the Republican Party. Bush was generally a moderate Republican, although being appointed GOP chairman by President Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation and Nixon's disgrace would have left anyone a bit beleaguered. Bush had spent much of his adult life in Texas, where he was in the oil business. During the 1980 Republican nominating process, George Bush was seen by moderate and left of center Republicans (there were still such back then) as the best alternative to Ronald Reagan and the strengthening conservative wing of the Republican Party. Reagan won the nomination early on, but Bush left a mark by describing as "voodoo economics" Reagan's claim that large tax cuts and big increases in defense spending would produce balanced budgets.
Bush was seen by many as the natural Republican candidate for the presidency in 1988, although some conservatives wanted to push a constitutional amendment which would have allowed Reagan to run for a third term. After some early setbacks in the process, Bush recovered, although he turned to the tax issue to gain the upper hand. Reagan and his supporters had cultivated the untrue image of Reagan as an ardent opponent of tax increases,* and, like it, not like it, it worked. Bush hammered major opponent, Senator Bob Dole, over the tax issue, while fending off social conservative Pat Robertson, a televangelist. Bush (and Democrats) faced a somewhat different Republican Party in 1988. The growing conservative element wanted no new taxes, if not outright additional tax cuts, in spite of huge deficits, and the socially conservative part of the political right pushed their issues, like opposition to abortion and advocating prayer in public schools, to the fore, something they had never done with Reagan. In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, Bush, not on the same public speaking level with Reagan, promised to hold his "charisma in check" and not to raise taxes, "Read my lips... no new taxes." In something of a play to the political right of the GOP, Bush chose little known and young Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate.**
Democrats, out of the White House for eight years, nominated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, as former front runner, Senator Gary Hart, dropped out after a love affair hit the news and Senator Ted Kennedy had declined to run. Dukakis chose Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate. Bentsen was a seasoned veteran, while Dukakis seemed to be anything but warm and fuzzy.
While the economy had been somewhat jittery, unemployment was low and Americans seemed to be satisfied with Republican rule, although early polls showed a lead for Dukakis. The budget deficits were very high, but neither Reagan, Bush, nor Republicans in general, seemed inclined to do anything to staunch the flow of red ink, although always claiming to be against budget deficits and Keynesian economics. (In fairness, Democrats didn't want to do much either.) During the campaign, Dukakis, fearful of GOP attacks accusing him of being soft on defense, appeared in a television ad riding in a tank, wearing a helmet. The ad drew laughs from many, as some compared Dukakis's image to Peanut character, "Snoopy." Then in one of the debates, Dukakis, who opposed the death penalty, was asked if he'd continue to oppose it, even if his wife were raped and killed. Dukakis's technocratic answer, citing statistics unfavorable to the death penalty, only served to reinforce his image as not having an emotional connection to the electorate. While elections usually don't turn on vice presidential candidates, Democrats went after the young and inexperienced Dan Quayle, and the senator played into their hands by comparing his experience to John ("Jack") F. Kennedy, who ran for the presidency while a young senator. Lloyd Bentsen quickly retorted, "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. You're no Jack Kennedy." The remark was cutting, and Quayle's image never recovered in the public mind, but the debate did nothing to advance Democratic hopes to defeat the Republicans. In the end, the coalition assembled by Reagan and Republicans triumphed, as Bush received more than 53% of the popular vote to less than 46% for Dukakis. Presidents are actually chosen by the electoral college, and in that, Bush had a landslide of 426 to 111,*** carrying 40 states to 10, plus the District of Columbia, for Dukakis.
Republicans retained the White House.
* It was untrue, because Reagan had agreed to numerous moderate tax increases during his time as president, although often under the guise of "revenue enhancements." Calling something by another name doesn't change what it is, but Reagan had at least shown himself willing to raise taxes to combat the large budget deficits run during his terms.
** Bush's choice of Quayle ended up not hurting his election chances, although, if I remember right, one Republican political strategist noted sarcastically something to the effect, "Well, at least we know we'll carry Indiana." The point was, Indiana tends to be a very Republican state, so nothing was gained by Quayle's selection, as he was from that Republican state.
*** One elector voted for Bentsen for president.
WORD HISTORY:
Wreak-This word traces back to Indo European "wreg," which had to notion of "to hunt, to chase, to drive against (shove)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wrekanan," which meant "to chase, to drive against, to shove," with the further development of "to punish" (often by exile; that is, "driving/forcing out," thus also, "avenge." This gave Old English "wrecan," along with variations of the same, which had to do with "avenge, revenge," and this later became modern "wreak," still most commonly used in expressions denoting "bring about vengeance" or "cause damage," as in, "The storm is expected to wreak damage on the area," or, "The jury wants to wreak retribution on the scoundrel." Other Germanic languages have: German "rächen" (to avenge) and the noun "Rache" (vengeance, revenge); at least some Low German dialects have "Rach" (vengeance); Dutch "wreken" (to avenge) and the noun "wraak" (revenge, vengeance); West Frisian "wreke" (to avenge) and "wrek" (revenge); Swedish "vräka" (evict; that is, a specific punishment, with ties to the old meaning "drive against/shove"). I could not find modern versions in Danish, Norwegian or Icelandic. Interestingly, German and Low German have dropped the "w," and Swedish uses a form for a specific punishment/revenge, rather than the general notion of revenge/punishment used by its other Germanic cousins.
Labels: Dan Quayle, Democrats, election 1988, English, etymology, George H.W. Bush, Germanic languages, Lloyd Bentsen, Michael Dukakis, political coalitions, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, social conservatives, taxes
posted by Randy at 2:40 PM
3 Comments:
Interesting one elector voted for Bentsen. Didn't know that. That's unusual right? I couldn't stand Quayle.
I didnt like Qualyle either and I was a Republican back then. Also Bush's campaign manager died a few years later and sort of repented for some of his campaign tactics. What was his name? Cant think of it.
You're thinking of Lee Atwater.
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