Comments on: The Traumatic Birth of the Modern (and Vicious) Political Campaign http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/10/the-traumatic-birth-of-the-modern-and-vicious-political-campaign/ History with all the interesting bits left in Wed, 22 May 2013 17:36:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 By: John http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/10/the-traumatic-birth-of-the-modern-and-vicious-political-campaign/#comment-2197 John Mon, 15 Oct 2012 03:04:36 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/?p=8782#comment-2197 What a conceit this piece is. I would suggest a bit more research... like say, going back to the time of the founding fathers. You'll find that smear tactics and "vicious" political campaigning are nothing new. And even that's nothing new if some graffiti in certain sites of ancient Rome are to be believed. What a conceit this piece is. I would suggest a bit more research… like say, going back to the time of the founding fathers. You’ll find that smear tactics and “vicious” political campaigning are nothing new.

And even that’s nothing new if some graffiti in certain sites of ancient Rome are to be believed.

]]> By: Ellen Nichols http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/10/the-traumatic-birth-of-the-modern-and-vicious-political-campaign/#comment-2196 Ellen Nichols Mon, 15 Oct 2012 02:13:06 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/?p=8782#comment-2196 One line in the article particularly struck me: "As the general election approached, the Los Angeles Times, led by editor Harry Chandler, began publishing stories claiming that Sinclair was a communist and an atheist." This reminds me a lot of the emails I get from my cousins claiming that President Obama is a socialist and a Muslim. One line in the article particularly struck me: “As the general election approached, the Los Angeles Times, led by editor Harry Chandler, began publishing stories claiming that Sinclair was a communist and an atheist.” This reminds me a lot of the emails I get from my cousins claiming that President Obama is a socialist and a Muslim.

]]> By: max http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/10/the-traumatic-birth-of-the-modern-and-vicious-political-campaign/#comment-2194 max Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:41:22 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/?p=8782#comment-2194 The post-story is how the left conquered all these heights formerly held by the Republicans - Hollywood and the print press - so as to completely dominate them, a complete reversal of what is depicted here. I suspect it had much to do with the rise of unions and the Southern Pacific RR predations, but it would be interesting to learn more. The post-story is how the left conquered all these heights formerly held by the Republicans – Hollywood and the print press – so as to completely dominate them, a complete reversal of what is depicted here. I suspect it had much to do with the rise of unions and the Southern Pacific RR predations, but it would be interesting to learn more.

]]> By: Arnold Lewis http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/10/the-traumatic-birth-of-the-modern-and-vicious-political-campaign/#comment-2193 Arnold Lewis Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:33:49 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/?p=8782#comment-2193 Would he have been a "terrible governor" because he looked at life from a different paradigm, or because others were incapable of looking at other paradigms at all? Would he have been a “terrible governor” because he looked at life from a different paradigm, or because others were incapable of looking at other paradigms at all?

]]> By: Christian James http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/10/the-traumatic-birth-of-the-modern-and-vicious-political-campaign/#comment-2187 Christian James Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:20:49 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/?p=8782#comment-2187 There's no doubt that the opposition's money and tactics affected the campaign, likely decisively. But I'd also take into account that Sinclair was quite eccentric and might not have been effectual. (As this essay admits, he was no politician.) That made it easy for the opposition to sculpt a narrative around him, however exaggerated or overblown that narrative was. I sympathize completely with Sinclair's politics, but as Jill Lepore writes in that New Yorker essay, "he probably would have been a terrible governor." http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/09/24/120924fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=all There’s no doubt that the opposition’s money and tactics affected the campaign, likely decisively. But I’d also take into account that Sinclair was quite eccentric and might not have been effectual. (As this essay admits, he was no politician.) That made it easy for the opposition to sculpt a narrative around him, however exaggerated or overblown that narrative was.

I sympathize completely with Sinclair’s politics, but as Jill Lepore writes in that New Yorker essay, “he probably would have been a terrible governor.”

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/09/24/120924fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=all

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