Dan Drezner [1] cites the Onion, who reports an interesting if predictable trend in trying to drum up support for the Democrats… back to 1979. You may recall after watching the country going to hell for over a year… 21% inflation, joblessness, and the foreign policy debacle called Iran, The peanut farmer couldn’t figure out what hit him. So, he blamed the voters for having a ‘malaise’.
Along comes John Kerry, who writes a ‘misery index’ seemingly designed to make the economic policy of Carter and Clinton look good, and finding it gets no traction, what do the Kerry people do? Why, blame the voter, of course. Says the Onion:
“A controversial 30-second TV spot for Kerry that aired throughout the Midwest Monday blamed the country’s ills not on Bush’s policies, but on the ‘sheer stupidity’ of America’s voters.
‘In the past four years, America’s national debt has reached an all-time high,’ the ad’s narrator said. ‘And who’s responsible? You are. You’re sitting there eating a big bowl of Fritos, watching TV, and getting fatter as the country goes to hell. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.'”
Oh, yeah… THAT’s gonna sell, huh?