#adlai stevenson

[politicalrpf]

Adlai Stevenson and friends in 1956.

[ikenhower]

[crispybagelherringalien-blog]

[tompoose]

happy birthday to adlai stevenson ii and nobody else

[thewaywardabbey]

Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full-time job.

Adlai Stevenson I

.

Changing for the better takes actual effort.

Sitting around and expecting things to change is lazy and entitled.

Try or be damned.

~Blessings~Courtney

[tomorrowusa]

Excerpt from a conversation between Nobel laureate Richard Thaler and David Leonhardt of the NY Times on the 2028 presidential election.

David Leonhardt: What do you think is the most likely mistake that Democrats would make in 2028? Richard Thaler: Choosing the candidate that Democrats like best rather than the one who has the best chance to get elected. David Leonhardt: What would you say to someone who argues that electability is unknowable — and so Democrats should pick the candidate they like most and hope for the best? Richard Thaler: To be clear, I don’t think that the mistake we are talking about is any more common among Democrats than Republicans. It is simply human nature to think that other people share our views. Lovers of cilantro don’t understand why others can’t stand the stuff. And vice versa. Both parties have made the mistake of nominating a candidate that was ideologically unacceptable to most voters – Barry Goldwater for Republicans in 1964, George McGovern for Democrats in 1972. Both suffered gigantic losses. Today, neither party has close to a majority of the voters, so the next President will be someone who can attract votes from both independents and members of the opposing party.

Democrats need to select somebody who can BOTH fire up the base AND have some crossover appeal. Looking back through history, John F. Kennedy succeeded in both ways and won a close election in 1960.

JFK was not as liberal as people may view him today. In terms of policy, he was something of a centrist during his Senate years. But he was young and could talk a good talk. And when push came to shove, he did use the power of the federal government as president to desegregate state universities in the South – a big deal at the time. In other words, he exceeded expectations.

In both 1952 and 1956 Democrats nominated liberal intellectual Adlai Stevenson. He was beaten in '52 and beaten badly in '56. Though despite the latter defeat, Dems retained control of both chambers of Congress in the 1956 election. Winning in 1960 meant broadening the party's national appeal.

We should be less worried about ideological purity and more focused on solving problems such as the affordability gap and making the future of the United States MAGA-proof.

[nobrashfestivity]

Gunther Stiller Adlai Stevenson's Cat Bill Veto 1989 woodcut on paper 12 1/16 x 7 3/8 inches

[todaysdocument]

Letter from President Eisenhower to E. E. "Swede" Hazlett

Collection DDE-EPRES: Eisenhower, Dwight D.: Papers as President of the United StatesSeries: Dwight D. Eisenhower DiaryFile Unit: Dwight D. Eisenhower Diary October 1954 (1)

October 23, 1954 Dear Swede: Your judgement on the spinning reel coincides exactly with mine. Since 1944 when I first encountered these gadgets in France, I have been the recipient of various types of spinners -- I should say one arrives about every sixty days. I leave them to those who like them. For my own fishing, I keep half a dozen fly rods ranging from about 1 - 1/2 ounces to 4-1/2, and I keep three favorite casting rods. I think this combination ought to see me through the fishing seasons left to me. [[circular ink stamp "The Dwight D. Eisenhower Library"]] I skip over your comments on the election campaign. I have appeared before a number of audiences, but I strive to deal only with substantive matters -- with fact and logical deduction -- while staying out of political bickering. When you mention Adlai, I again find myself in complete agreement with you, except that I doubt that he is a very dangerous opponent. However, if he should slip into a position of real responsibility, he would represent a great risk for the country. As to "four-headed" foreign policy, the Democrats never succeeded in keeping people like McCarran from sounding off when they so chose. So if a Republican Senator lets go once in a while, I don't know what we can do about it, even though I deplore the misunderstandings they create. So far as Dulles is concerned, he has never made a serious pronouncement, agreement or proposal without complete and exhaustive consultation with me in advance and, of course, my approval. If your friend Senator Ervin would take the trouble to look up the record, he would see that Nixon belonged in the same school, although he admittedly tries to put his pronouncements into more colorful language. [complete transcription at link]