Barack Obama and LBJ

On March 12, 1968, Lyndon B. Johnson got 49% of the vote in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Eugene McCarthy got 42%. Such a comparative performance is believed by many to be the reason that Johnson decided not to run for re-election that year.

Fast forward to 2012. Just a few days ago, approximately 40% of the Kentucky Democratic primary voters voted "uncommitted" against President Obama. A similar proportion in Arkansas voted for a Tennessee lawyer that, I am sure, most Arkansans knew nothing about. And a few weeks earlier, in the West Virginia Democratic primary, 41% of the vote went to a prisoner in Texas. Just like 1968, we're talking about Democratic primaries, with a sitting Democratic President defending his record. And at least, in 1968, Eugene McCarthy was a well-known figure. Obama's opposition in those three states was not. (In Kentucky, there was nobody -- just “uncommitted”!)

Perhaps Barack Obama should realize that, even in his own party, voters are dissatisfied with his Presidency. He ought to emulate Lyndon Johnson and retire. But, of course, he won't. He enjoys power too much. (But didn't LBJ, also?) So it is up to the American people to retire him in November.

What about Gingrich?

Readers of this blog know that I get a lot of my material from columns I read in the Washington Examiner. This post is no exception.

Yesterday's Examiner had a column by Byron York entitled “Gingrich's wonkish, unconventional campaign.” The main burden of York's column is that “If either of the current frontrunners, Herman Cain or Mitt Romney, were to falter, Gingrich is in a position to benefit greatly.” And I think this really means that York is saying that, with all the missteps made by first Michele Bachmann, then Rick Perry, and more lately Herman Cain, Gingrich may well be the one for Republicans who cannot reconcile themselves to Mitt Romney.

Well, I have to say this about Gingrich: He is, I believe, a lot more intelligent than Bachmann or Perry, and he certainly has Government experience, unlike Cain. So he makes a lot more sense as a candidate than any of those three. (Disclaimer: I still think Romney is a better choice!)

One point that could be made against Gingrich is that he has been rejected by his own party in the past. But after the 1962 California Gubernatorial election, everyone thought Richard M. Nixon was finished. Even Nixon did — after all, he said on that occasion, “You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore…” But this was not so. Six years later, Nixon was elected President. (Another disclaimer: As far as I am concerned, despite a lot of negative opinion by others, Nixon was still the best President, in my opinion, in the past fifty years!)

So maybe Gingrich deserves looking at. As I said, Romney is still my #1 choice among those actually running. But Gingrich isn't a bad alternative, in my opinion.