As the primary season comes to a close and the general election campaign is upon us, it is a good time for the candidates and their political parties to start fresh. A good place to start would be the imagery department. Both parties need new agendas and new ideas for the future. New icons.
Since 1960 for the Democrats and 1980 for the Republicans, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan have served as the gold standards for their parties. For the sake of the country and the 2008 campaign, it is time to move on. The desperate effort by candidates to capture the Kennedy/Reagan magic is misplaced and prevents the leaders of today from being leaders in their own right.
The Republican candidates for president, in particular, spent the better part of 2007 auditioning to be the next Reagan. Their first debate, at the Reagan Library in California, was a tribute to the last great leader of the party with Nancy Reagan presiding over the casting call. The Democrats, on a more subtle level, spend far too much time trying to recapture the Kennedy mystique.
Remembering Camelot
The aura of Kennedy’s Camelot has long since passed for many voters who did not live through it. Since the 1960s, history has revealed both his successes and his flaws, and his flaws were as scandalous as Bill Clinton’s. More than half of the present-day electorate wasn’t even old enough to vote for Kennedy in 1960, so their memories of him are not necessarily positive.
Although Reagan’s legacy currently places him in the realm of great presidents, during his tenure in the White House he was often ridiculed in the news media and popular culture as a lazy know-nothing.
Still, candidates of both parties try to claim the Kennedy/Reagan mantle. Two who tried harder than most were forced to leave the race early, which may be proof of the need for new symbols.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd has never been shy about claiming his ties to the politics of Kennedy, both here at home and on the national campaign trail. His public service is defined by his time in that most Kennedy of government programs; the Peace Corps.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson built his short-lived campaign on his Reagan conservative credentials and the fact that he too was once an actor. You could argue it was the entire premise of his campaign. Both lost. The connection from the candidate — through Kennedy and Reagan — to the voter is no longer there.
Democrats seem to get it more than Republicans. Barack Obama has stated directly that he is focused on the future and is not fighting the battles of the 1960s. Hillary Clinton, though proud of her party’s roots, has focused more on her own plans than recapturing the magic of 50 years ago. Republicans seem stuck trying to “out-Reagan” each other.
Particularly in this election year, as the economy falters and world events are having a direct effect on the future of our country, we need leadership, not nostalgia. The winning candidate will be the one with a reasonable plan to get control of our foreign policy and our economy.
We have established that this is a change election, not a stay-the-course election. By definition, that should mean we are not looking for a retreat to a past that is not relevant to today’s challenges. Kennedy and Reagan, great or not, are of the past. We don’t need them; we need the president who will be seen as transformative 20 years from now. Tell us where we are going, not where we’ve been.
Dean Pagani is a former gubernatorial advisor. He is V.P. of Public Affairs for Cashman and Katz Integrated Communications in Glastonbury.
