The New York Times offers us a glimpse into the traveling circus that is the presidential campaign — current stop: Iowa:
It probably made sense on paper: invite presidential candidates to visit the Iowa Republican Party’s tent in the parking lot before the big Iowa vs. Iowa State football game on Saturday.
What planners did not anticipate was the portable mob scene that characterizes the candidacy of Donald J. Trump.
Arriving more than an hour late, Mr. Trump offered a speech of less than a minute on the state party’s stage. But that was beside the point, as star-struck supporters greeted him like a stadium rocker during a sprawling tailgate party before kickoff.
“Donald, you rock!” a young man shouted as Mr. Trump, encircled by a security team, walked through a parking lot.
Another man fought his way into the mob and said, “Donald, I’m wearing your hat!”
“Shook his hand. I shook his hand!” a burly student shouted to two friends, sounding faint with excitement.
And so on.
Other candidates were there, making the rounds, wandering by the tailgate parties. But none of them got “burly” students to swoon.
It would be easy to submit to the spectacle. It’s real, it’s growing, and no matter what the chin-pulling right says or does, their preferred candidates remain mired in a wallow from which they seem utterly unable to escape.
We are told they are good men of conservative temperament and ideas. On some level, perhaps, they are. But I’ve spent part of the weekend watching old episodes of “Firing Line” featuring Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. None of the people seeking the GOP nomination rise to the level of these old conservatives.
Reagan talked about “compromise,” and how that was sometimes a necessary thing to achieve larger goals. He would be howled out of the GOP for saying such a thing today. In one episode, then-candidate Reagan was asked to assess the other GOP contenders (George H.W. Bush was running a strong second at the time). He refused to take the bait, saying they were good men and the sheer number of candidates (10) seeking the nomination showed the vitality of the Republican party.
Thatcher spoke of being a politician of “conviction,” rather than one wedded to “consensus.” Perhaps that would get her a pass today. As she had to wage face-to-face battles with actual socialists, as opposed to mere Democrats, Thatcher had to have convictions, based on ideas, experience, and a long career in government.
Today, she would be dismissed as a “loser” for having been in office nearly 20 years before becoming Prime Minister.
We have fallen far. But perhaps we’ve simply returned to another, earlier, nadir in our political life. Consider this gem from H.L. Mencken, written in the Baltimore Sun in 1920:
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Many on the Left used this quote in their disgust over the re-election of George Bush in 2004. Little did they know Bush the Younger’s days would seem like a golden age of reason compared with the spectacle of 2015…
