I voted for Anderson, knowing that he couldn't win, and having campaigned for Carter four years earlier. Carter was unelectable at that point. Had he stepped aside for Kennedy, as I think he should have done, we'd have avoided the Reagan administration. More to the point, had Kennedy contested the Democratic nomination in 1972, instead of standing idly by while the Democrats picked the one man in all of America who couldn't beat Richard Nixon, then we've have avoided the whole Carter-Regan debacle altogether, and I think that much of the bitterness and divisiveness that marks modern American politics could have been averted.
I never considered Chappaquidic much of a blot on the man's record. I don't think a Republican would have been held to any different standards. It was a different time, with different expectations.
In the end, I think Ted's greatest failure is going to be remembered as having sponsored Barack Obama. It was plain that he expected Obama to reach out to his opponents, and to try to end the vicious partisanship that's tearing the government apart. Obviously he misjudged him.
I spent much of last night, and part of today crying and mourning him. Despite his flaws, I still consider him a great and honourable man who spent his life in public service.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-08-26 09:39 pm (UTC)I never considered Chappaquidic much of a blot on the man's record. I don't think a Republican would have been held to any different standards. It was a different time, with different expectations.
In the end, I think Ted's greatest failure is going to be remembered as having sponsored Barack Obama. It was plain that he expected Obama to reach out to his opponents, and to try to end the vicious partisanship that's tearing the government apart. Obviously he misjudged him.
I spent much of last night, and part of today crying and mourning him. Despite his flaws, I still consider him a great and honourable man who spent his life in public service.