Send in the Clowns

There's a new reality show on TV.

Five contestants must fight for the same job. They have to race around the country doing tasks that earn points from the audience.

The oldest contestant worked as a psychiatric aide, carpenter, erotica writer and town mayor. He thinks all the show's viewers should buy big screen TVs for their less fortunate neighbors so they can vote for him, too. Wacko!

Another contestant lies lies about her accomplishments and demands special treatment. She's very sweet when the cameras are on, but her teammates worry that her radical ambitions are putting their safety at risk. They call her the "Diva of Danger".

One guy thinks he should win because he is the richest, but he expects everyone else to do all the work and demeans them for not doing it as well as he could, so no one wants him on their team. I've nicknamed him "The Bully".

The contestant with the fewest points spends all his time going around to tell all the others that he should be the winner anyway, because his last job makes him most qualified, even though the audience clearly considers him delusional.

The last contestant is nicknamed "The Gentleman" because he memorized all the game rules and doesn't try to sabotage the others. He's not very exciting, but he's always polite and he's the one all the others go to for advice.

Have you seen the show?
It's called Presidential Election 2016.

The media haven't been this giddy since the last season of The Bachelor. According to the talking heads, this campaign is the most contentious in our nation's history. 

Not by a long shot.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane, back to the Election of 1828, noteworthy for the intense personal attacks widely employed by the supporters of both candidates. Andrew Jackson was challenging incumbent John Quincy Adams. 

"By the time the votes were cast, both men would have wild stories circulated about their pasts, with lurid charges of murder, adultery, and procuring of women being plastered across the pages of partisan newspapers. In 1827 supporters in both the Adams and Jackson camps began concerted efforts to undermine the character of the opponent. Even though the two candidates had strong differences on substantial issues, the resulting campaign turned out to be based on personalities and tactics which were outrageously underhanded." 

Sound familiar? Oh, it gets better.

"Supporters of Andrew Jackson began spreading a rumor that Adams, while serving as American ambassador to Russia, had procured an American girl for the sexual services of the Russian czar. The attack was no doubt baseless, but the Jacksonians delighted in it, even calling Adams a 'pimp' and claiming that procuring women explained his great success as a diplomat."

John Quincy Adams was so offended by the false accusations that he refused to write in his diary from August 1828 until after the election. He refused to get involved with the dirty campaign tactics. "Jackson, on the other hand, was so furious about the attacks on himself and his wife that he got more involved. He wrote to newspaper editors giving them guidelines on how attacks should be countered and how their own attacks should proceed." 

Everything old is new again, I guess.

These opponents had challenged each other in 1824, but neither had won the requisite number of electoral votes. John Quincy Adams pulled out a tenuous victory in the House of Representatives, known as "The Corrupt Bargain", in which House Speaker Henry Clay invested his considerable influence to secure the win for Adams.  

Andrew Jackson, already famous for his temper, was furious. "And when John Quincy Adams named Henry Clay to be his secretary of state, Jackson denounced the election as 'the corrupt bargain.' Many assumed Clay sold his influence to Adams so he could be secretary of state and thus increase his own chance of being president someday." Jackson resigned his Senate seat and returned to Tennessee to jump-start his campaign for the next election.

Jackson rode the wave of populism, with his appeal to the "common folk",  and he handily won the popular vote and the electoral vote, becoming the first Democratic President, effectively separating from the historic Democratic-Republican platform orginating with James Madison.

Jackson could be described as the angriest man to ever serve as president, participating in countless fights, many of which turned violent. Near the end of his term, he reportedly said his only regret was that he hadn't been able to "shoot Henry Clay and hang John C. Calhoun." These, my friends, are the roots of the Democratic Party.

Unless you're blind, the simililarities to the 2016 Election are blatantly obvious. Ted Cruz represents the Republican statesman, John Q. Adams, while Donald Trump exemplifes the hot-headed Democrat, Andrew Jackson, much too well. 

History. Those who refuse to study it comdemn the rest of us to foolishly repeat all the worst bits. 

Let's avoid that, shall we? This contest looks like it's headed for a controversial Republican Convention. (No wonder Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, is becoming the character actor that just might steal the show.) 

While we are vigorously campaigning for our favored candidate, let's also work to change the trajectory of future politics by defusing the bombast. 

Historical precedence paints a bleak picture: Donald Trump, loses this contentious election, steeps in his bitterness, foments revenge among his beloved "poorly educated" cult followers and wins the next election, as a Democratic Republican, fueled by relentless pique. I can hear the Establishment and media rejoicing in anticipation. 

We are at a crossroads. Will we forge a path back to Conservative Constitutionalism in order to restore our Republic, or will we, like the electorate in 1828, plead for bread and circuses? 

For some reason, I have this old song in my head: 

Don't you love farce?
My fault, I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want -
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.

Don't bother, they're here.

- Stephen Sondheim

Read more at: The Election of 1828 Was Marked by Dirty Tactics