November 15, 2010
AND YET JFK SOLD OUT CUBA AT THE FIRST RATTLE OF RUSSIAN SABERS...:
No Camelot 2.0: The decline of liberal idealism. (James Piereson, November 22, 2010, Weekly Standard)
In truth, the Camelot ideal never fit Obama, who brought to the presidency a sense of ambivalence about the American future and America’s role in the world. It is hard to play the role of inspiring leader while counseling one’s citizens to scale back their expectations. While President Obama is capable of eloquence, his attempts often fall short because they are accompanied by an undertow of caution and pessimism. It is hard to imagine Obama saying, as Kennedy did, that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” Such bold calls to arms were perfectly consistent with the liberalism of Kennedy’s time, but for many reasons are at odds with the liberalism of today. For better or worse, Obama’s ambitions do not approach the high ideals of Camelot—and he and his admirers might be better off if they acknowledged that.A defeat can be a terrible thing to waste, especially if it provides one with an incentive to reassess what it is possible to achieve. President Obama is not going to bring about a revolution in the consciousness of our time. Nor will he permanently change the terms of our politics. It was this kind of thinking, based upon arrogant presumptions of greatness, that led to his defeat. By abandoning greatness, however, Obama may yet find a way to survive—and find a role for himself through which he might make a lasting, positive contribution. In doing so he might permit the rest of us to put to rest at last the shattered dreams of Camelot.
...and, contra Mr. Piereson, one ought not too quickly posit a difference between JFK and the UR headed towards their re-election bids:
The "Kennedy myth" and the Democratic party's crushing victory in November 1964 have obscured Goldwater's national appeal. Trends appeared favorable to the Arizonan. His popularity was growing, and Republican state, county, and precinct chairmen expressed support. Kennedy had grown accustomed to 70 percent-plus approval ratings, but he saw his popularity plummet to 57 percent in October 1963. The rising hostility toward the president was not limited to southern states, as is often asserted. Two-thirds of the public disapproved of Kennedy's spending record; 56 percent criticized his inability to work with Congress; and nearly half believed he was pushing racial integration too quickly. His approval rating fell substantially among Republicans, independents, Protestants, and people over fifty years of age. In the East, his popularity dropped 16 percent, with greater declines in the midwest, far west, and south, respectively. Even his support among Catholics and Democrats fell by eleven points.Goldwater, moreover, made gains in trial runs against Kennedy. In February 1963, the president had commanded a 67 to 27 percent advantage, but nine months later, Goldwater, still unannounced, had narrowed the gap to sixteen points. Kennedy's civil rights initiatives and the Arizonan's conservative states' rights message ignited enthusiasm for the Republican in the South, where Goldwater outpolled the president by wide margins. The senator's popularity in the Old Confederacy and his appeal in the west gave rise to the "Southern strategy." This electoral scheme posited that the GOP could win presidential and congressional victories without relying on opposition strongholds in northeastern and middle-Atlantic states. Even Dixie Democrats feared that the conservative could sweep all 164 southern and border-state electoral votes.
The Kennedy administration had been contemplating the upcoming campaign for months prior to the assassination, and the president predicted that Goldwater would win the Republican nomination. Although confident of re-election, JFK conceded possible defeat in the south and anticipated "a hard, close fight" in many states. "Among the political professionals," noted journalist Stewart Alsop, there was "a feeling that Goldwater just might make it all the way to the White House."
