Angela Lefevre hit the road early Wednesday morning to visit her family in Denver and to take her place in history.

I called her en route and the person who answered said, “Hel ...,” then the phone went dead. It was no auto accident, just bad reception. Lefevre called back to say she was crossing the Rocky Mountains and couldn’t talk. She made it to Denver late Wednesday night.

So far, no snow.

Like many who visit Denver, she’ll swing by the Pepsi Center, probably pick up some souvenirs, greet old friends, and then do something people visiting Denver haven’t done for 100 years - take part in a national political convention.

History Lesson

William Jennings Bryan, the three-time presidential loser, came out of Denver July 10, 1908, at the head of a divided Democratic party heavily influenced by populist, agricultural interests.

A Presbyterian minister, Bryan proved popular in the sticks, but lost votes in the cities, giving the victory to President Theodore Roosevelt’s hand-picked successor, Republican William Howard Taft, the largest president ever.

We have something of a historical parallel in play.

Taft-McCain connection

Taft was Roosevelt’s Secretary  of War. In the eyes of many Democrats, Sen. John McCain [R.-Ariz.] has acted like a secretary of war for the Bush administration.

If elected, McCain would also break a presidential record. He would not be the largest president ever, but he would be the oldest  ever elected.

Taft, and later McCain, became notorious for late-night trips to the regrigerator, eating leftovers out of the pan and drinking milk from the carton.*

Bryan-Obama connection

Bryan was a noted orator whose famous “Cross of Gold” speech ended with the line, “Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

Bryan believed the country should use silver, instead of gold alone, to value the dollar. The inflationary effect of the silver standard would have increased farm prices to the benefit of Bryan’s chief constituency.

Obama is a noted orator whose famous speech about One America at the 2004 Democratic National Convention launched his journey to the nomination this year.

Bryan, and later Obama, were frequently accused of being Musselmen.*

The outcome

Bryan won the nomination, but lost the election in 1908.

Obama is fading in the polls. McCain is surging.

Unlike McCain, however,  Taft had one of the most popular presidents ever, Teddy Roosevelt, campainging hard for his election in 1908.

McCain has Bush, a failing economy and an unpopular war.

Talk about a cross to bear.

*Bald-faced lie. Also, "Musselmen" is a term rarely used anymore to refer to Muslims.

Average user rating

   (0 vote)