Of Men and Mars and Maine — and Mainstream Media

 

20veeck_1A special thanks to the good folks at nationalpastime.com for unearthing this tidbit: on yesterday’s date in 1959, Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck arranged for four midgets, all dressed up as space aliens, to be helicoptered onto the playing field at Comiskey Park — the joke being that they’d arrived from another planet to help the ChiSox’s vertically-challenged double-play tandem of Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. Actually, the joke was on baseball that year: the “Go-Go Sox” made it to the World Series, air-raid sirens and all.

It’s the same Bill Veeck who gave baseball its first exploding scoreboard and fans a chance to manage a game — and, while running the Cleveland Indians, integrated the American League.

Speaking of alien life, there’s the question of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and his presence in the Democratic field — namely, is he the victim of a biased media that gives his candidacy the same odds as life on Mars?

(For what it’s worth, I plead guilty to this — I think Senator Sanders stands as good a chance as Colonel Sanders, who’s been dead for almost 35 years).

Here’s a good read from The Week’s Ryan Cooper, who writes:

Indeed, if anything Sanders is more credible than the likes of [Rand] Paul and [Ted] Cruz. He has risen markedly in the polls of late, where his support has about tripled since the end of last year. He’s doing particularly well in New Hampshire, where a recent poll put him in second place at 18 percent support. As an opponent of the Iraq War and a longtime advocate for more progressive policy, he has a natural constituency in the liberal left, where he is genuinely admired.

Will he win? The odds are surely against him. Clinton’s level of name recognition, money, and elite support — Sanders didn’t even pick up an endorsement from the governor of his home state — makes it a very tough challenge.

Sanders isn’t lacking for attention these days. A quick news search shows ABC NewsNBC News, and The Washington Post all profiling the candidate and his call for a downward “transfer” of wealth. Even Salon.com has “6 things you need to know” about Sanders.

But taking him seriously? Maybe the media will . . . if he can grow his numbers beyond the Green Mountains and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Then again, Sanders isn’t the only presidential candidate with a media issue. For Jeb Bush, there’s this question: can he ever get the press off the “dynasty” beat?

gwar01_081226bushRealClearPolitics’ Caitlin Huey-Burns is the latest scribe to take a cut at the concept of 41-43-45.

Noting that fellow 2016 GOP candidates Mike Huckabee (“I don’t come from a family dynasty”), Scott Walker (“I didn’t inherit fame or fortune from my family”) and even Marco Rubio (“there’s no way in the world that I could have the same dreams, and potentially the same future, as the son of a president or the son of a millionaire”) have all played the DNA card on the campaign trail, she writes:

So what’s going on here?

Part of the answer is simply that Jeb Bush is a well-connected frontrunner, with high name-identification and an ability to raise vast sums of money, meaning that those trailing him in the polls believe they have to reel him in. In that sense, Jeb is a natural target. A second part of the answer, however, is that one reason Jeb has that name ID and those high-dollar connections is because his last name is Bush — and the other candidates resent him for it, especially since it threatens to take off the table the past dynasty argument they hope to use against the likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

But the biggest issue here may be a third factor: the changing landscape of the GOP itself.

Despite winning re-election, George W. Bush was not a popular president when he left Washington. The stalemated war in Iraq, a perception his administration dithered in response to Hurricane Katrina, a sea of federal debt accumulated during his tenure, and a financial crisis that marred his last months in office soured much of the country on the 43rd president. He’s better liked now by the public than he was in 2009, but party professionals still remember the toll Bush’s presidency took on down-ticket candidates.

Moreover, the Republican Party has largely shifted away from both previous Bush administrations on a range of policy issues. In the age of the Tea Party, George H.W. Bush’s 1990 tax deal with Democrats is anathema. And George W. Bush-era bailouts and big government programs such as TARP, No Child Left Behind, and the expansion of Medicare are symbols of runaway federal spending and intrusive government overreach not qualitatively different from Obamacare. Jeb Bush will be asked about his stances on his brother’s policies, as will the rest of the field.”

We’ll see how Bush incorporates family ties into his kickoff speech, whenever that is.

And if reporters can police themselves against revisiting the ghosts of Bush campaigns past (the worst recent example of this: trying to introduce Willie Horton — he of Massachusetts crime and punishment and a campaign waged over a quarter of a century ago — into the current conversation about where America’s headed in 2016 and beyond).

Meanwhile, the latest news out of Maine has Jeb Bush building a “cottage” (a $1.4 million, 3,000-sq.ft., four-bedroom home sitting on a 1.3-acre site) on the family compound in Kennebunkport.

Hey, a family compound didn’t stop JFK, now did it? Or does word of another house going up on Walker’s Point keep the dynasty narrative going?

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  1. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    In the age of the Tea Party, George H.W. Bush’s 1990 tax deal with Democrats is anathema. 

    Ummmmm…”In the age of the tea party”?  Wasn’t it always pretty much an Anathema?  Remember that whole “Read my lips” thing?  Didn’t the tax deal pretty much cost GHWB re-election?

    • #1
  2. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Bill Whalen:20veeck_1A special thanks to the good folks at nationalpastime.com for unearthing this tidbit: on yesterday’s date in 1959, Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck arranged for four midgets, all dressed up as space aliens, to be helicoptered onto the playing field at Comiskey Park — the joke being that they’d arrived from another planet to help the ChiSox’s vertically-challenged double-play tandem of Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. Actually, the joke was on baseball that year: the “Go-Go Sox” made it to the World Series, air-raid sirens and all.

    It’s the same Bill Veeck who gave baseball its first exploding scoreboard and fans a chance to manage a game — and, while running the Cleveland Indians, integrated the American League.

    Gaedel

    How could you leave out THIS classic Veeck moment…

    • #2
  3. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    I’m  sure Jeb will join Presidents John Connolly, Phil Gramm, Steve Forbes, George Allen and Rudy Giuliani in the fundraiser’s hall of fame, but will he play a constructive role after his flame-out? What role do you see him playing after he gets blown out in Florida? Will he throw his support to Rubio? Sulk in the corner? Play elder statesman?

    • #3
  4. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Petty Boozswha:I’m sure Jeb will join Presidents John Connolly, Phil Gramm, Steve Forbes, George Allen and Rudy Giuliani in the fundraiser’s hall of fame, but will he play a constructive role after his flame-out? What role do you see him playing after he gets blown out in Florida? Will he throw his support to Rubio? Sulk in the corner? Play elder statesman?

    Why are you so sure he gets blown out in Florida?

    He was a popular governor, will have tons of money, and the establishment GOP on his side.  Don’t get me wrong, nothing would make me happier then to see his campaign end quickly.

    • #4
  5. Petty Boozswha Inactive
    Petty Boozswha
    @PettyBoozswha

    Florida was supposed to be front-runner Rudy’s stand too, but a lack of traction in Iowa, NH and SC ended his invincibility. People that want Jeb’s brand of politics would much prefer Rubio’s family narrative and looks assuming Hillary is still in the race at this point.

    • #5
  6. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @

    Moreover, the Republican Party has largely shifted away from both previous Bush administrations on a range of policy issues. In the age of the Tea Party, George H.W. Bush’s 1990 tax deal with Democrats is anathema. And George W. Bush-era bailouts and big government programs such as TARP, No Child Left Behind, and the expansion of Medicare are symbols of runaway federal spending and intrusive government overreach not qualitatively different from Obamacare. Jeb Bush will be asked about his stances on his brother’s policies, as will the rest of the field.”

    I agree. The political landscape has changed dramatically on the Republican side and I think a lot of pundits are stuck in the past paradigm. Also the GOP voters have soured on interventionist foreign policy, so the national security Republicans Jeb, Christie, Lindsay Graham et al aren’t going to get much traction there either.

    By the way, it’s not just other candidates who resent Jeb’s connections. It’s also rank and file voters who think he’s being an entitled preppy-boy who is willing to parade all things Bush in front of the electorate again.

    • #6
  7. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Franco:. Also the GOP voters have soured on interventionist foreign policy, so the national security Republicans Jeb, Christie, Lindsay Graham et al aren’t going to get much traction there either.

    “The” GOP voters?

    Maybe some have.  Many others have not.

    • #7
  8. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @

    Miffed White Male:

    Franco:. Also the GOP voters have soured on interventionist foreign policy, so the national security Republicans Jeb, Christie, Lindsay Graham et al aren’t going to get much traction there either.

    “The” GOP voters?

    Maybe some have. Many others have not.

    That was the wrong word, sorry. Many Gop voters, or better, people more inclined to vote for Republicans (like myself).

    There are many good reasons for this. Assigning the term “isolationisim” and calling people Libertarians for reassessing  the wisdom of these interventions isn’t going to help these guys either. They don’t get it.

    • #8
  9. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Kozak:

    Bill Whalen:20veeck_1A special thanks to the good folks at nationalpastime.com for unearthing this tidbit: on yesterday’s date in 1959, Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck arranged for four midgets, all dressed up as space aliens, to be helicoptered onto the playing field at Comiskey Park — the joke being that they’d arrived from another planet to help the ChiSox’s vertically-challenged double-play tandem of Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. Actually, the joke was on baseball that year: the “Go-Go Sox” made it to the World Series, air-raid sirens and all.

    It’s the same Bill Veeck who gave baseball its first exploding scoreboard and fans a chance to manage a game — and, while running the Cleveland Indians, integrated the American League.

    Gaedel

    How could you leave out THIS classic Veeck moment…

    Eddie Gaedel!  He towered over… umm… nobody.  But he has an on-base percentage of 1.000.

    • #9
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