As I’ve mentioned previously, part of my peripatetic past includes working on several U.S. Senate and Congressional campaigns. It was definitely exciting and eye-opening. I got to know a lot of candidates and people in power. Needless to say, what you see in front of the cameras isn’t always what you get behind the curtain.

My immersion into the depths of electioneering took place a couple of decades ago. As I look back on my time in the trenches, I have the advantage of seeing things from a different perspective. And what I see was a much more civilized expression of democracy in action. Granted, there were some fringe candidates on both sides back then, but often there wasn’t a whole lot separating ideas, just slight variances on how things should get done.

The 1960 presidential election is a pretty good case in point. I’m not old enough to have been a part of that contest, but from what I’ve read, there really wasn’t a wide chasm between John Kennedy’s positions on issues of the day and Richard Nixon’s. Both would probably have been considered moderates. Both agreed on the threat of Communism. Both felt organized labor had grown too powerful. And both were leery of the expanding role of the federal government.

As freshman legislators in the post-war 1940s, the two had gotten along well. So much so that when Nixon first ran for the Senate from California in 1950, JFK showed up at his office with a $1,000 check from Joseph Kennedy, Sr. for Nixon’s war chest – big money back then.

Given the state of divisive politics today, I’ve been wondering just what Kennedy and Nixon would think if they were suddenly transported to the here and now. Would their time travel conversation go something like this?

JFK: So, let me get this straight. A business guy who has never been elected to anything is now the President?

NIXON: Right. And he beat a former First Lady in the election.

JFK: What? You mean like Jackie and Pat?

NIXON: That’s what I heard.

JFK: Unbelievable.

NIXON: There was an actor and a Black guy in the White House before that too.

JFK: Paul Newman? Marty King?

NIXON: Ronald Reagan. Barack Obama.

JFK: Barack? What kind of name is that?

NIXON: Beats me.

JFK: Jeez. Okay, so what’s going on with these 2018 midterms?

NIXON: A woman named Elizabeth Warren just won re-election to your old Senate seat.

JFK: Old-line Bostonian?

NIXON: Nope. Doesn’t even have an accent. Claims she’s part Indian.

JFK: She’s from Calcutta?

NIXON: No. Native American Indian.

JFK: Interesting. What’s up with Cuber?

NIXON: Still can’t get a good cigar.

JFK: You’re kidding. Castro’s gotta be dead.

NIXON: He is. Still no change. But a lot of Cubans now live in Miami. They vote Republican.

JFK: I should’ve learned Spanish.

NIXON: That would help today. There’s ten million illegal aliens in the country. A lot of them don’t speak much English.

JFK: Why don’t we just kick them out?

NIXON: Because your party doesn’t want to. It needs the votes.

JFK: I see. Well, you Republicans will always have Vermont.

NIXON: Actually, it has a Socialist senator.

JFK: Government ever get smaller?

NIXON: It’s $20 trillion in debt.

JFK: $20 trillion? With a “T?”

NIXON: So I’ve heard.

JFK: Not sure Dad can cover that. How’s the country going to pay it down?

NIXON: Your guys want to tax the rich.

JFK: Well, Dad’s REALLY not going to like that. What about your home state?

NIXON: California? Don’t ask. 53 districts and Republicans are an endangered species.

JFK: 53 Congressmen? Doesn’t anybody live in Iowa anymore?

NIXON: Not many. And it’s Congresspersons now. Women, Blacks, Hispanics, couple of Muslims . . . a whole new ballgame.

JFK: What happened to guys like us?

NIXON: We’re in the flyover states.

JFK: How many people live on the Moon now?

NIXON: Uh, zero. We stopped going in the mid-70s.

JFK: What’s happening in this country?

NIXON: Well, as near as I can tell, the Republicans hate Democrats, Democrats hate Republicans, neighbors aren’t too keen on neighbors, schools and worship places are targets, and the media only reports fake news.

JFK: I think I liked it better when we just had dead people vote in Chicago.

NIXON: I’m pretty sure that hasn’t changed.

JFK: Well, nice to know some things stay the same.

 

Indeed they do. And a big salute to all the Veterans who gave us the freedom to be as contentious but loving as we want.

 

©MMXVIII. William J. Lewis, III – Freelance Writer