52 Repeat?

BusinessWeek’s Richard Dunham compares the current election with that of the ’52 election and I have to agree that the similarities are compelling. In 1952, the United States was in the middle of a war (Korean War) as are we. I would even argue that these two wars have a similarity – fear of Communism vs. fear of Terrorism. The current unpopular president, Harry Truman (shall we compare him to President Bush?), wasn’t in the running and both the Democrats and Republicans had wide-open primaries. The Republicans went with Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom Dunham compared to Barack Obama, instead of Bob Taft, whom he compared with Hillary Clinton. Eisenhower’s charismatic personality and inspiring nature is similar to the enthusiasm generated for Obama in this election. Also comparable to Obama, Eisenhower’s campaign included attacks on the outgoing administration and promises to end the Korean War. In the end, Eisenhower was chosen over Bob Taft who, like Hillary Clinton, was the Washington insider in the election. The Democrats in the election, whom Dunham compares to today’s Republicans, did detach themselves from their unpopular President, but failed to replace him with another Democrat. We don’t know what the fate of our 2008 election will be, but if it follows the pattern of the 1952 election, Barack Obama will become the President and we go from there. However, no matter the outcome of the election, Dunham’s comparisons are quite interesting.
http://www.amcham.dk/events.php?sec=events&id=231

[by B. Barton]