DonBoy
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Saturday, August 28, 2004
 
On Being Sick of Things

I think the embarrassing reality of politics is that a lot of it comes down to getting people to want people, things, ideas, and politics itself to just go away. I've heard the theory that the winner of any election is "whoever the electorate is the least sick of on Election Day". I have a related theory that the underlying politics of same-sex marriage is that whoever talks more about it loses.

All of which brings me to this posting by DemFromCT on DailyKos:

I have little interest in prolonging SBVT debate -- but why there's such profound anger and emotion about the issue of Vietnam will remain of interest until my generation dies off.

Two pieces today, one by Todd Purdum and one by Richard Holbrooke add to the capsule summaries at your fingertips. Holbrooke's, especially, is aimed right at a younger generation:


[...]
Well, kids, welcome to an encore presentation of our Second Civil War. The anger and viciousness of the Swift boat debate provide just a brief reminder of how Vietnam divided our nation for a decade.
[...]

Imagine Groundhog Day except that the year is 1971...
Which makes me think -- as I posted in that Kos thread -- that although it may not be a conscious strategy, if Rove can make this election about the question of whether or not we want to keep talking about Vietnam, Kerry is in big trouble.



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