#election 1960

[spiroagnewfan80]

Using phone & finger to draw is surprisingly not as bad as I remembered it being. Anyway here's my election 1960 drawing

[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.

[magiavw]

Doing Better

I think I’m ok for now..  I talked to my sister about the election, and she helped  bring me back down to earth.  We won’t use the health care we both need.  It will take forever for anything to change anyway.

It is nice to be related to someone that has one of the highest i.q.s in the state. 

[life]

Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy confers with his brother and campaign organizer, Robert Kennedy, in a hotel suite during the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

See more photos of LIFE's coverage from the Democratic National Convention through the years here.