In a recent comment exchange, I made the following comment to a liberal regular commenter here on Brian's Blog. The comment was "You would be surprised who I supported for the Republican nomination for President in 1996 and 2000" He tried to guess with some obscure name.
Here is the list of candidates as I remember them from 1996 in the Republican primary for President. Leave a comment with your vote for who you think that I supported. The winners "will receive a mighty fine prize" my admiration and respect.
We will probably do this with the 2000 race as well.
In alphabetical order, that's the only fair way to do it. The candidates were:
Lamar Alexander
Pat Buchanan
Bob Dole
Bob Dornan
Steve Forbes
Phil Gramm
Alan Keyes
Dick Lugar
Arlen Specter
Morry Taylor
Pete Wilson
I liked some things from each one, however, I did support only one in the primary. You shouldn't be surprised to know that I supported the Republican ticket of Dole/Kemp in the General election.
Here is the list of candidates as I remember them from 1996 in the Republican primary for President. Leave a comment with your vote for who you think that I supported. The winners "will receive a mighty fine prize" my admiration and respect.
We will probably do this with the 2000 race as well.
In alphabetical order, that's the only fair way to do it. The candidates were:
Lamar Alexander
Pat Buchanan
Bob Dole
Bob Dornan
Steve Forbes
Phil Gramm
Alan Keyes
Dick Lugar
Arlen Specter
Morry Taylor
Pete Wilson
I liked some things from each one, however, I did support only one in the primary. You shouldn't be surprised to know that I supported the Republican ticket of Dole/Kemp in the General election.
Mr. Hornback,
ReplyDeleteMy guess - Pat Buchanan.
Everybody else, Hi!
I am the liberal regular commenter that Mr. Hornback is refering to. The obscure name that was offered up as a guess was Gus Hall - and it was a joke. You, Mr. Hornback, would have never have voted for Gus Hall in million years. In case you don't know, and I guess you didn't Mr. Hornback, Gus Hall who died at the age of 90 on October 13, 2000 spent more than four decades as the leader of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). You could count on his running for President every four years like clockwork. It eventually became something of a joke, kind'a like the "Franco is still dead" jokes of SNL back in the late 70's.
The funny story I refered to earlier concerned the 1964 Presidential race. It was Johnson versus Goldwater and I was in the first grade. Mrs. Miller as a civic excerise she asked all us childern who our parents were voting for. I didn't know so that night I kept pestering my parents for an answer. Looking back on it I'm not sure that they had even made up their minds at that time. Anyway, that night I just kept pestering them to the point that my father finally just blurted out "We're voting for Gus Hall, now leave us alone about it!" Well, not knowing or understanding who Gus Hall was, the next morning I procced to march into my first grade class and proudly announced to Mrs Miller and all present that my parents were voting for Gus Hall.
Well ...
It seems that someone, probably Mrs Miller, tho I don't know for sure of course, told someone what I had said, who in turn told someone else who ...
(background - Dad worked at Boeing in Seattle WA as an illustrator drawing the diagrams and pictures for the manuals used in Boeing aircraft, which at the time included the B-52 bomber. This was just a little while after the Cuban Missile Crisis - the Cold War was very cold when all this was happening)
... anyway ... that afternoon Dad was called into the Boeing Security Office where he was asked about his "support" for one Gus Hall! They eventually sorted everything out and everyone had a good laugh.
That night I received my first real lesson in the traditions of American Democracy, specifically the importance of the secret ballot and how rude it was to ask someone who they voted for. Dad also told me who Gus Hall was. While some of you out there might remember that election for various reasons I have my own unique ones.
SteveMule
SteveMule,
ReplyDeleteI knew and know who the late Gus Hall was. He actually ran for President 5 times. He founded the United Steelworkers of America trade union. He was born Arvo Gustav Halberg to Finnish parents, they (his parents) were founding members of the Communist Party.
He was a 15 year old school drop-out. He joined the Communist party at 17. He spent 2 years (1931-1933) at the Lenin Institute in Moscow. His leadership during a couple of strikes were considered by some as a model of effective grassroots organizing.
In 1935 he married Elizabeth Hall she was among the first women steelworkers and a secretary of SWOC.
He volunteered for the U.S. Navy when World War II broke out, serving as a machinist in Guam. He was honorably discharged and was then elected to the National Executive board of the American Communist Party.
Hall and 11 other Communist Party leaders, were indicted under the Smith Act on charges of “conspiracy to teach and advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government by force and violence.”
He spent eight years in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary for the crime of thinking about teaching. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Smith Act as unconstitutional.
After his release, Hall continued his activism. He led the struggle to reclaim the legality of the Communist Party and addressed tens of thousands in Oregon, Washington and California.
He opposed Gorbachev and stood up for the ideals of Stalin to the end.
On your vote. We will see if you were accurate, when the voting closes and the announcement is made.
Brian:
ReplyDeleteHere are arguments why you could have supported each of these Republican Party candidates in 1996:
Alexander -- local boy, mentored by your hero, Howard Baker.
Buchanan -- Speaks his mind, strong conservative credentials, former Nixon speechwriter.
Dole -- You supported him and worked in his campaign in 1988.
Dornan -- You liked his support for the B-1 Bomber.
Forbes -- Makes sense on the flat tax.
Gramm -- He's from Texas.
Keyes -- Most articulate speaker in the primary that year.
Lugar -- Strong Republican Party ties.
Specter -- See above.
Taylor -- OK, I have no idea who this guy is. You probably didn't support him.
Wilson -- Former governor of California, like your other hero, Ronald Reagan.
Maurice "Morry" Taylor Jr. is the President and Chief executive officer of Titan International Inc.. Taylor, nicknamed "the Grizz" for his bear-like gruffness, started in tool and die manufacturing before purchasing Titan Wheel International from Firestone.
ReplyDeleteTaylor gained brief fame outside the business world when he made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination in the U.S. presidential election of 1996.