checking in with history in the present
Checking in on the campaigning activities of the lot of past presidents, and toss in the former nominees while you are at it, and Assad’s easing A basic trajectory as time marches forward.
It is hard to gauge actual effects, but the Democrats fare better in their ability to trot their men out. Bill Clinton was at the hustlings to stump for a couple New Jersey congress critters, and a few figures along the Texas border. Surely he chugged Cuellar past the finish line — to the disgust of the left wing of the party — and that may be a message on the move of Clinton in the party — as Obama came in, his Democratic campaign futures put him at stops Obama could not do — helping North Dakota’s Democratic Senate candidate to a slim victory, and though it fell flat and dead he tried in Arkansas and Kentucky. Now, where the Democrats are fraying with border Hispanics, he gets shipped there.
Barack Obama was more center stage at the end — to the thicket of key races. Because otherwise you are staring at Joseph Biden who — without Obama — is kind of in the spot Obama was in 2010 when you stared at the campaign itinerary and saw Connecticut’s Democratic candidate and Delaware is throwing a sop to him and letting him speak before college crowds. Biden was allowed into Pennsylvania largely because Obama was there. He almost assuredly would still be campaigning for Hochul, though if forced to make a choice she’d stick with Hillary Clinton as speaker.
Al Gore is, naturally, nowhere to be seen, except in a bizarre Chuck Todd speculation that — hey! All Gore 2024, huh?, forcing A statement from Gore of an “ugh. Go away.”
George W Bush campaigned for Joe O’Dea in Colorado, despite the Democrats’ best efforts the Republican primary victory and always a longshot anyways — and the candidate I see the National Review offer up a post mortem headline of “He was worth a shot”. Otherwise, we now see Bush publicly announcing a meeting with Zelensky. If such a move can even slightly shore up some Republican support for Ukraine’s defense efforts — a hard seller, I suppose.
Mitt Romney wisely stayed away from endorsing Mike Lee, whose public requests for an endorsement are puzzling to me.
In the next campaign — the Georgia runoff — history as a guide — in 2002, some late last second decision robot calls from Bill Clinton get credited with pulling Mary Landrieu in Louisiana out of the fire, and 2008 saw president elect Obama doing as little as he could get away with while staring at a certain landslide loss with Georgia — all while McCain and Palin and Sell Miller gallavated the stare. In 2022, near as I can see — the Democrats have an advantage, and at last a good excuse not to include Biden in any Clinton and Obama campaigning — and the Republicans hope they could swap a tag team of their winning governor Kemp and Florida’s Desantis in for Trump.