# Bush election: what does this remind you of?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [November 4, 2004, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955 "2004-11-04T11:20:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/1 "2004-11-04T11:20:48Z")
Let’s see. A highly controversial war going on. A Republican incumbant. Who is highly poplular on his own side, and deeply hated on the other, to an extent not usually seen in American politics. An ugly and contentious election. Resulting in a second term for the Republican.
What does that sound like?
1972 maybe?
And look what happened to him 🙂 ?
(Sorry. There’s a reason I put this in the Pit. Just trying to cheer people up 😃 )
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### Author:  [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/2 "2004-11-04T11:35:23Z")
But Nixon didn’t start the Vietnam war. That all happened well before he first took office.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/3 "2004-11-04T11:39:49Z")
Let’s see. Spherical in shape. Yellowish in color. Obeys the laws of gravity, and the laws of thermodynamics. Looking at it from the wrong angle could cause severe injury to your eye.
What does that sound like?
The sun maybe?
No, silly, it’s a tennis ball 🙂 !
(Sorry. There’s a reason I posted this here. Just trying to illustrate a false analogy. :D)
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### Author:  [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/4 "2004-11-04T11:57:32Z")
> [@Liberal](#):
>
> Let’s see. Spherical in shape. Yellowish in color. Obeys the laws of gravity, and the laws of thermodynamics. Looking at it from the wrong angle could cause severe injury to your eye.
>
> What does that sound like?
>
> The sun maybe?
Ooh! Ooh! I know this one!
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1322811,00.html](http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1322811,00.html)
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/5 "2004-11-04T13:09:49Z")
Of course, it also sounds like Lincoln, so you need to be careful about historical comparisons. 🙂
Although, look what happened to him, as well…
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### Author:  [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/6 "2004-11-04T13:12:30Z")
Didn’t Nixon have a huge win in '72?
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### Author:  [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/7 "2004-11-04T13:23:00Z")
It reminds me of [this book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0415065690/102-1037275-3411309?v=glance).
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### Author:  [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/8 "2004-11-04T13:37:19Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#):
>
> But Nixon didn’t start the Vietnam war. That all happened well before he first took office.
Correct. He bore no direct responsibility for starting the war (I only put in the “direct” because he was part of the communism is a plague school that helped to start it), and look what still happened to him. What got him to his sorry end was an obsession with secrecy and a tendency to view all political opponents as enemies of the state.
It _still_ sounds familiar to me.
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### Author:  [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/9 "2004-11-04T13:51:07Z")
Let’s see. A highly controversial war going on. A Democrat incumbant. Who is highly poplular on his own side, and deeply hated on the other, to an extent not usually seen in American politics. An ugly and contentious election. Resulting in a second term for the Democrat.
What does that sound like?
1996 maybe?
And look what happened to him 🙂 ?
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/10 "2004-11-04T13:52:38Z")
> [@Desmostylus](#):
>
> Ooh! Ooh! I know this one!
>
> [08.10.04: Tony Blair's Africa mission | Cartoons | guardian.co.uk](http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,7371,1322811,00.html)
😃 Very good, Desmo!
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### Author:  [@ShockingAlberto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShockingAlberto)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/11 "2004-11-04T13:54:25Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#):
>
> Of course, it also sounds like Lincoln, so you need to be careful about historical comparisons. 🙂
>
> Although, look what happened to him, as well…
Then we clearly need to add in something about war time tax cuts!
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### Author:  [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/12 "2004-11-04T13:54:56Z")
Steve Bell is a genius. [Today’s offering](http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/archive/0,14955,1284265,00.html).
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/13 "2004-11-04T14:15:55Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#):
>
> Steve Bell is a genius. [Today’s offering](http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/archive/0,14955,1284265,00.html).
😃 I’ve now bookmarked Mr. Bell.
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### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/14 "2004-11-04T14:22:09Z")
> [@grienspace](#):
>
> Let’s see. A highly controversial war going on. A Democrat incumbant. Who is highly poplular on his own side, and deeply hated on the other, to an extent not usually seen in American politics. An ugly and contentious election. Resulting in a second term for the Democrat.
>
> What does that sound like?
>
> 1996 maybe?
>
> And look what happened to him 🙂 ?
We were at war in 1996? Wow…I really WAS smoking too much dope back then.
Sam
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### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/15 "2004-11-04T14:47:09Z")
> [@GaWd](#):
>
> We were at war in 1996? Wow…I really WAS smoking too much dope back then.
>
> Sam
What’s even worse, he had the gall to leave a huge surplus behind.
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### Author:  [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/16 "2004-11-04T14:55:09Z")
> [@grienspace](#):
>
> Let’s see. A highly controversial war going on. A Democrat incumbant. Who is highly poplular on his own side, and deeply hated on the other, to an extent not usually seen in American politics. An ugly and contentious election. Resulting in a second term for the Democrat.
>
> What does that sound like?
>
> 1996 maybe?
>
> And look what happened to him 🙂 ?
Well, the war wasn’t so controversial that the Republican party platform made a big deal about it. [http://www.australianpolitics.com/usa/gop/gop-platform-1996.shtml](http://www.australianpolitics.com/usa/gop/gop-platform-1996.shtml)
What they did say is that Clinton was wrong to not arm the Bosnians, and wrong to allow others to do so. There’s a planet somewhere, I’m sure, where that view is coherent, and I wonder what color the sky is there. The word Kosovo was never mentioned, and neither Bosnia, Herzegovina nor Kosovo was mentioned by Bob Dole while accepting the nomination. Nor did he ever, to my knowledge, speak of it during the campaign. Controversy there was, but the Republicans wanted no part of it.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/17 "2004-11-04T16:48:44Z")
A President elected largely because of the influence of his father, and despite losing the popular vote was “selected” for the job…
My God! It’s John Quincy Adams redux! 1824 is upon us!
(Okay, the analogy works better with the 2000 election, but chill out)
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### Author:  [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/18 "2004-11-04T18:34:54Z")
> [@Antiochus](#):
>
> What’s even worse, he had the gall to leave a huge surplus behind.
I’m about ready to give up trying to explain to you smart bookreaders that Congress writes the spending bills. Not Presidents.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/19 "2004-11-04T18:38:51Z")
> [@duffer](#):
>
> I’m about ready to give up trying to explain to you smart bookreaders that Congress writes the spending bills. Not Presidents.
Just tell 'em to read your lips.
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### Author:  [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2004, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-election-what-does-this-remind-you-of/272955/20 "2004-11-04T22:58:51Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#):
>
> Steve Bell is a genius.
“Bush is a monkey?” Soul of wit, that.
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