RP: Democratic National Convention, 1960

DNC 1960


  • Total voters
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Who will you choose as the next Democratic presidential nominee?

OOC: Tomorrow's the 50th anniversary of JFK's nomination.
 
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It won't be Adlai Stevenson: he's lost twice in succession, and the faithful will have no patience with following him to a third consecutive defeat. Besides, Vice-president Nixon (the likely Republican nominee) has his number. In confrontations in the press, Stevenson may get across wittier material, but that won't matter to average Americans: Nixon will get across his point far more effectively. In short, if it's Stevenson opposing Nixon, Richard Nixon can start writing his inauguration speech now.

I wouldn't be surprised if the consummate used car salesman, Lyndon Johnson, somehow gets the nod. He has enough contacts to get the dirt on anyone, and he knows the art of the deal inside and out (giving the devil his due). It wouldn't shock me to learn that he's cut some sort of insider deal with Joe Kennedy to give John Kennedy something useful to do at a higher rank than the Senate (assuming he, Johnson, gets elected) for the four years (eight years?) that he, Johnson, is in office. By 1968, when Johnson would have to pack it in by law, John Kennedy will be only 51.

Yes, I've heard the rumors of Kennedy's health problems, and the "now or never" tack, but I wouldn't put too much stock in it. Besides, you can bet that Johnson has some dirt on Kennedy with respect to Marilyn Monroe (mostly out of jealousy: you can bet Johnson wishes he were tapping that regularly) and will use it to the fullest to swing convention votes his way.

If he gets the nomination, he may well choose someone squeaky clean like Hubert Humphrey as his running mate. But the VP candidates (Lodge, Humphrey) won't matter much. The gloves will be off, and this will be one of the nastier campaigns in recent history. Expect a lot of behind-the-scenes skulduggery, too, like the Chicago machine pulling something very sneaky on election day.
 
I'm a Stevenson supporter, but I don't think that he'll get the nomination, what with the last two times he's served as our party's sacrificial lamb. He would, I think, make the best President of the lot of them, though. Barring him, my support goes to Hubert Humphrey, who I think has a bright future in this nation's (and the Democratic Party's) politics.
 
I think we should have a younger President myself, especially after Ike's numerous healthcare scares. Even to me as a Republican, I'd prefer JFK as a moderate Democrat who if Nixon loses, I wouldn't mind in the WH.
 
Kennedy all the way.

I'm a republican, and Ike's done a lot of good, but with his helth problems, a younger president might do us a lot of good.
 
Speaking as a moderate Labour supporter from across the pond, I have to admit that the mudslinging between the Kennedy and Johnson camps has left me disgusted. I'm personally hoping that Humphrey gets it as a concession to both sides. He strikes me as an honourable and moderate man who is just what America needs to renew herself.

I simply don't trust Kennedy, he may be young and idealistic, but there is something sinister about him that leaves me worried. I wouldn't mind him for the Vice-President nominee, but if HHH gets the top spot then surely they would need a southerner for it? I don't think that Johnson would accept it somehow, who could get it in that case?
 
Yes, I've heard the rumors of Kennedy's health problems, and the "now or never" tack, but I wouldn't put too much stock in it. Besides, you can bet that Johnson has some dirt on Kennedy with respect to Marilyn Monroe (mostly out of jealousy: you can bet Johnson wishes he were tapping that regularly) and will use it to the fullest to swing convention votes his way.

What about Mrs. Monroe? (OOC: An actress Kennedy has a certain interest in, like most red blooded males, but has yet to meet so far as I can recall)
 
There are rumours that Stevenson and Humphrey are nothing but stalking horses for Johnson. I'm pretty certain that Humphrey is a shill but unsure about Stevenson.

OOC: IOTL both were shills for LBJ.
 
Personally, I like Stevenson. I still think he would have made a fine President. Maybe not as good as old Ike, but he'd have done a decent enough job. But, his time has past. He's lost two times to Eisenhower, you don't get to lose three times in a row. Still, his losses really weren't his fault, nobody and I mean nobody was going to beat Eisenhower. But he should understand that his ship has sailed here. The whole idea of a Stevenson nomination is nothing more than vanity on his part.

Lyndon Johnson? He'll never get the nomination. Johnson won't be President, not in a million years.

Senator Kennedy? From I've been told he wasn't exactly active in either the house or senate. He took the easy way out when the time came to censure Senator McCarthy. That's a sign of someone without a moral backbone. And I'm not trying to make light of the Senator's back problems back in 1957. Clearly, Kennedy's an eloquent enough fellow. no question that he's charismatic, but charisma alone does not a Presidency make. Maybe I'm wrong, but there's just something about him that I find questionable, it's hard to quantify. That said, I think the Senator from Massachusetts is the likely nominee, for better or worse.
 
What about Mrs. Monroe? (OOC: An actress Kennedy has a certain interest in, like most red blooded males, but has yet to meet so far as I can recall)

I hate to be so incredibly pedantic but I'm sure you mean Miss Monroe. She's a fine actress. But I too haven't a clue what she has to do with Senator Kennedy.
 
If he gets the nomination, he may well choose someone squeaky clean like Hubert Humphrey as his running mate. But the VP candidates (Lodge, Humphrey) won't matter much. The gloves will be off, and this will be one of the nastier campaigns in recent history. Expect a lot of behind-the-scenes skulduggery, too, like the Chicago machine pulling something very sneaky on election day.

I can't imagine why a Kennedy-Nixon race would be particularly nasty. After All, from what I've heard Kennedy and Nixon have been on good terms for years. Sure, Senator Kennedy is going to make an effort to win, his family is nothing if not ambitious. But I really can't see him going so far as to run a particularly viscous campaign against Vice President Nixon.

As for the Chicago machine, they always pull sneaky things off come election day, that's like Predicting that the sun's going to come out tomorrow. But Daley's machinations could hardly decide the entire election.
 
It's an unholy alliance if I ever saw one but the South forms the Democratic base. Mostly based on Reconstruction mythology + a hint of economic populism. But yeah, I can't see why all these civil rights liberals would be associated with the Dixiecrats. At least all 3 leading candidates have backed civil rights- unlike Stevenson who picked a segregationist running mate in '52 and a drunken blowhard in '56. If his VP picks reflect his political judgment, Stevenson doesn't deserve the nomination by a long shot. If he's nominated, Nixon might as well start writing his Inaugural Address.
 
It's an unholy alliance if I ever saw one but the South forms the Democratic base. Mostly based on Reconstruction mythology + a hint of economic populism. But yeah, I can't see why all these civil rights liberals would be associated with the Dixiecrats. At least all 3 leading candidates have backed civil rights- unlike Stevenson who picked a segregationist running mate in '52 and a drunken blowhard in '56. If his VP picks reflect his political judgment, Stevenson doesn't deserve the nomination by a long shot. If he's nominated, Nixon might as well start writing his Inaugural Address.

Also, since it looks like Kennedy's going to win the Convention, I'm still not going to vote for him, despite him and I sharing a common religion. His speech to the Texas Protestant ministers is so much pandering - we shouldn't be apologizing for our religion!

I'm probably going to vote for Nixon. I voted for him for Congressman, for Senator, and for Vice-President. I like the man, and he's probably the only candidate who's got real civil-rights credentials.
 
I support Kennedy. He has a certian carisma I don't see in the other candidates, plus he is young and good-looking, which I think will come across well with Americans.
 
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