[HN Gopher] Bob Dole Has Died
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Bob Dole Has Died
Author : stopagephobia
Score : 69 points
Date : 2021-12-05 18:37 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.wsj.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.wsj.com)
| beardedwizard wrote:
| Bob Dole doesn't need this :(
| mrfox321 wrote:
| Ladies and gentlemen, 73 year old candidate, Bob Dole!
| bradleyjg wrote:
| I always wonder if the Republicans nominated him in 1996 because
| they thought he could win or just as honorary thing given they
| probably couldn't win with anyone.
|
| It felt like one of the most lopsided elections of my lifetime (I
| was too young to pay attention to politics when Dukakis ran.)
| Jansen312 wrote:
| Hard to say. Considering that Biden got way more votes than
| Obama, I realized it was Obama riding Biden coat-tails all
| along. Biden was then the gifted orator it seems. Bill was
| lucky the economy did well I guess. I think Mick's shot in 2012
| was also quite lopsided.
| Lazare wrote:
| Parties (generally, at least in the modern era) can only
| nominate people who run, and people run based on their
| estimation of the odds, the competition, and their estimation
| of their ability to wait until the next cycle.
|
| Somewhat famously, in the 1992 cycle the Democrats were going
| up against an incumbent president who had just overseen a
| successful war, and was enjoying 89%(!) approval ratings. Some
| of the highest profile candidates (such as Mario Cuomo) sat it
| out, leaving the field to minor players including the then
| little-known governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. In the event,
| Bush crumbled and Clinton won, in large part due to a very
| brief recession. July 1990 marked the end of the longest
| peacetime expansion in US history, and by March 1991 the
| recession officially ended...but when voters went to the polls
| in 1992, they still punished the incumbent.
|
| (I'm just old enough to remember a political joke from back
| then. It went something like: President Bush is walking along a
| beach when he finds an old lamp. He picks it up, rubs it, and a
| genie comes out and grants him three wishes. Bush asks for the
| Persian Gulf conflict to be a smashing success, the economy to
| recover, and some other policy success I can't quite recall
| after all these years. The genie agrees and vanishes. One of
| his advisors looks worried. "Are you sure you shouldn't have
| wished to win the election?" Bush confidently replies "Are you
| kidding? After all those successes, how could I lose?")
|
| 1996 was, again, a race against an incumbent, but consider:
| Clinton was vastly less popular than Bush had been, and he had
| some obvious weaknesses as a candidate. It was by no means
| absurd to think a respected, straight shooting war hero could
| come out ahead against the tarnished, draft dodging Bill
| Clinton. And of course, as with 1992, there was every chance
| that by the time people went to vote, the situation might look
| very different.
|
| So...I think Dole (and the many others who competed for the
| nomination) did so because they thought they could win, and
| they weren't wrong. The immediately prior election was proof of
| that! That being said, it was always going to be a challenge,
| and I think some strong candidates did decide to wait for the
| hopefully friendlier 2020 cycle. On the other hand, Dole was
| running out of time. So was Dole running because he thought he
| could win, or because he thought this was his last chance?
| Both, probably. And then he was nominated as the strongest
| candidate running. (It's not like a party is _ever_ going to
| survey the field and decide just not to contest a presidential
| election, regardless of the odds.)
| CommieBobDole wrote:
| I don't think it was as lopsided as you think - Dole got 40.7%
| of the popular vote compared to Clinton's 49.7%, and he flipped
| five states in the electoral college.
|
| Even though the results were never really in doubt, that's not
| too bad of a showing against an incumbent president.
| hereforphone wrote:
| I'd guess inside politics + no one obviously better to run at
| the time. IMO the same reason Hillary was put up ("her turn" +
| who else?)
| runevault wrote:
| I wouldn't be surprised if the latter. I don't know that the Rs
| had anyone who could compete with Clinton on charisma which is
| always dangerous. Hell when Bush Sr ran he didn't realize what
| he was going up against until it was too late.
| rootusrootus wrote:
| > when Bush Sr ran he didn't realize what he was going up
| against until it was too late
|
| I still remember watching that moment in the town hall when
| it hit me that he was going to win, and probably by a good
| margin. He was smooooth.
|
| Coincidentally, I also remember watching Hillary Clinton do
| the dance thing during a debate with Trump and that's the
| moment I decided she might actually lose despite everyone
| suggesting it was going to be a blowout. Told my wife "If she
| loses, it will be because of _that_ attitude. " She
| definitely does not have Bill's charisma.
| [deleted]
| kwertyoowiyop wrote:
| Like John McCain, Dole's politics did not agree with mine but he
| went through some serious sh*t serving our country, so a
| heartfelt "thank you."
| hereforphone wrote:
| So much better and mature than the typical Reddit comment when
| a conservative dies. Hopefully HN doesn't degenerate too fast,
| the maturity level is what keeps me here.
| sharmin123 wrote:
| Guide on The Mental Health Effects Of Extramarital Affairs:
| https://www.hackerslist.co/guide-on-the-mental-health-effect...
| hirundo wrote:
| "As a 21-year-old platoon leader, Dole was trying to pull a
| radioman from the line of fire when he was struck in the upper
| back and right arm...It took three years of treatment and
| countless setbacks before he was able to recover from the wounds,
| although he lost the use of his right arm and most of the feeling
| in his left."
|
| Thank you for your military service Senator. Rest in peace.
| AlbertCory wrote:
| A great, great man. And one of the few Presidential candidates
| with a sense of humor [1]
|
| [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBklPt7oUOc starting at 11:00
| queuebert wrote:
| Back when there were moderates who got along with each other
| and had a sense of humor. Glad we have a record of that.
| alphabettsy wrote:
| They still exist.
| goldcd wrote:
| "I do not need the presidency to make or refresh my soul. For
| greatness lies not in what office you hold, but on how honest you
| are in how you face adversity and in your willingness to stand
| fast in hard places."
|
| That's not a bad quote
|
| Actually, whole obituary is worth a read -
| https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/05/bob-dole-sol...
|
| This is a left wing British paper.
| dhosek wrote:
| This has been a week of discovering people I'd assumed were dead
| were still alive (although in this case, not so much anymore).
| The other one is Henry Kissinger whom I'd assumed had died
| decades ago but it turns out is still alive and putting his name
| on books.
| seiferteric wrote:
| he was involved with theranos
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