If JFK were to run today, would you vote for him?

Given that today is the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, and there's been a plethora of reporting about it in the news, in addition to a multitude of new books being released about his legacy and the theories revolving around his death, I thought it would be appropriate to ask this question.

If the elections were held today, and Kennedy was in the running (as though he never ran or was running for a 2nd term), would you vote for him?

I ask, because I feel that Kennedy is no longer representative of the Democratic Party. He was actually a pretty far cry back in the 60s, but today, as the Democrats trend Left, Kennedy is certainly looking more and more Conservative. Yet, Democrats still tout him as their guy and have this Camelot love affair with his memory.

So, what say you and why?

 

Much as Repubs cling to their mythical Reagan.

As Hemingway opined concerning TR after his demise, "His myth lives on, unencumbered now by his existence."


The nation has progressed since TR, JFK, and RWR, so I'm not sure any old timey prez would fit today's demands. This is not a time of popular politicians.




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Other

I was too young at the time, but later voted for Nixon, twice. I've always said I'd vote for him again, so... Other.

 

Perceptions and political alignments change over time. Whilst Kennedy trounced Nixon in the voting of Black Americans, 70-30, he also had strong support from organised labour, a seriously diminished force nowadays, but folks are always trying to re-write history to comport with their own politics. It is necessary to look to contemporary assessments to obtain a clear view of how any historical personage was regarded within the context of the times.

 

JFK was an advocate for business, profits and tax cuts, and he fought against Communism.

[video=youtube;aEdXrfIMdiU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEdXrfIMdiU[/video]

Audio of his address to the Economic Club of New York: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHA-148.aspx

Are these liberal policies?

 

I cannot claim to be an expert on Kennedy but given that my choice would have been between Kennedy and Nixon- I would have voted Kennedy.

 

Certainly are. He also proposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Kennedy was “proud to say I am a liberal,” as he explained in accepting the New York Liberal Party’s endorsement, “if by liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties.”

His views on nuclear disarmament and separation of church and state were clearly and correctly seen as liberal. He was more liberal than Eisenhower or Nixon and as liberal as FDR and Truman on civil rights

 

What about now, or better yet... in 2012, would you have voted for Kennedy, had he been an option? If your choices were Kennedy, Obama or Romney?

 

Here's a contemporary view for ya. This was on Stuart Varney - Fox Biz, this a.m.

A Tough Assessment of JFK, Interrupted

What Kiplinger editors were planning to say about Kennedy…until word of his assassination came from Dallas.

 

What continues to interest me is that people can't seem to understand that time changes things.

 

He invoked God on several occasions, because he understood that in order to be truly free, our unalienable rights must come from God:
[video=youtube;NL2rEZFaPcg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL2rEZFaPcg[/video]

Seems pretty Conservative to me. Liberals, today, would preach that what he says is an affront to the 1st amendment and that God has nothing to do with it.

1. Rights come from God
2. Tax cuts spur economies
3. Profits are good
4. Businesses are good
5. Communism is bad

Liberals would argue that tax cuts will kill an economy and that we need to spend and tax more.

Liberals have argued that big businesses are evil and profits are equally as evil, suggesting that businesses should have lower profit margins and pay more taxes.

Many liberals love Communists, like Che Guevara and Fidel Castro and they push for Socializing as much of the economy as they can get away with.

 

Revelatory. Thank you for posting it.

 

Indeed! As a center-left President, that's exactly what one would expect. The "right" of his day attacked his policies mercilessly, especially the "far right" such as the Birch Society.

Business thrived under Kennedy as it did under center-left Clinton.



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You seem confused. Democrats from Jimmy Carter to President Obama have invoked God on many occasions. Liberals, like myself have no issue with that at all.

No more than the conservatives who love Mussolini or Stormfront. Face it- no mainstream Democrat- from Carter to Obama 'loves' communists, and Obama is clearly supporting big business- just look at the stock market.

 

The seething vitriol of a radical minority that festered in Dallas in 1963 sounds all too familiar taday.

 

... as well as the record high corporate profits and CEO salaries, but that's par for the course, as FoxBusiness reported last year:

 

JFK, except for Obama, was the most liberal and socialist president ever in the history of the United States.

 

No. I would not vote for him now... Times have changed.

 

Im not surprised no democrats of today, would vote for him....

He expected you to work for a living....

 

No, I wouldn't. If his wife can't trust him, we can't either. I also think he mishandled the Bay of Pigs, and only foolish luck stopped us from being involved in a nuclear war with the Soviets.

 

The man was the last respected President we'll likely ever see from here on out. Bush f'd it up for everybody.

 

Certainly, a 50 year old reanimated zombie should be able to beat anything in office easily.

 

Nobody from the right wing can seem to do it. Doesn't speak much for them, I'd say.

 

He was lied to by the CIA from the very beginning about the bay of pigs invasion,They told him they were not going to need air support for the invasion.during the disaster,JFK approached them and and said-Look I know you lied to me about not needing air support,tell me the truth now,do you need air support? and they of course lied to him again knowing they needed it.The invasion was designed to fail under Kennedy to make him look bad.It was designed to succeed under Nixon.JFK inherited the bay of pigs invasion from eisenhower.it was planned under him.the plan they p[resented to Eisenhower was vastly different than the one they presented Kennedy.Nixon was the CIA's boy.

they thought he was going to get elected so they presented the plan to Eisenhower designed to succeeded thinking Nixon was going to get elected since he ran covert operations for the CIA AS vp. when that didnt happen,they altered the plan that was presented to Ike and the one they presented to Kennedy was designed to fail.

They know Ike being a four star general would never go along with it unless they presented 0ne to him that was designed to succeed.Him being a battle tested veteran,they knew they could not fool him.Kennedy being just a civilian and not the warrior experienced man Ike was,they knew they could draw up a plan to fool him and make him look bad.

Thank god we had the bay of pigs disaster because after that,during the cuban missile crisis,kenendy wisely stopped listening to the military brass for their recommedations to bomb cuba and he leaned heavily on bobby and listened to his aides instead.Had he listened to the military brass back then,we would have had world war 3 and we wouldnt be here right now.

this is an uncomforrtable thought with a lot of people and they cant handle it and i expect a lot of denials from people on this post but its all documented and true.

 

thats the understatement of the century.

Yeah he was also the last REAL president we had as well in the fact that unlike every president since him,he wasnt a puppet for the establishment willing to do their bidding and thats what got him killed because he was stepping on some very poweful toes in washingont.