Brian Eshleman’s Reviews > Quest for the Presidency 1992 > Status Update

“The pessimism around them was as thick as fog at sea and as debilitating to the spirit.”

Much of what the Bush campaign did was history repeated as farce. It was too late and far to loud.

As usual at critical moments, the (Clinton) campaign had to resort to its favorite oracle – focus groups.

To the dismay of his coaches, he devoured his briefing books as if the prize would go to the man who could jam the most boring details into the least possible time.

The problem, tactically speaking, was that Bush had his own deep and finally unmanageable contempt for Clinton‘s behavior; where his handlers saw a liar, one said, he saw “and unpatriotic little worm.“

I’m startled. I know the two of them became close after the 1992 election. Combine competition with patriotism, and it can bring out the worst in anybody, I guess.

At State, he (Baker) had been crisp, decisive, in charge. In his new billet, he seemed oddly passive, a man hostage to his own discontent.

That last phrase is a keeper, worth the setup.

On Baker, considering his other skills as a manager: “What he could not bring himself to do was feign optimism, though doing so was part of the normal brief of the managers of failing campaigns. Neither did he bother pretending to be happy in his work.“

Neither can I, in a job where blessings are a lot more evident. If the aspect am thinking about doesn’t make me happy, I’m not. God‘s work to reframe my thoughts.

“James Baker‘s tour as Secretary (of State) had spoiled him with the flatteries of heads of state and the adulation of crowds.“

Spiritual parallels here also. The Christian carries Christ‘s image and some of His authority. I can’t be the only one who gets his head turned with a complement which is actually pointing, consciously or not, to Christ-likeness. It’s not about me.

On President Bush late in the 1992 campaign: “He had spent a year shuffling identities like a deck of cards. None of them had worked.“

I liked him then. I admire him much more now. Still, this is a good metaphor which can describe existence outside of the presidency. How many identities will I shuffle through before presenting Christ instead of my latest identity?

Authors refer to the tension between Perot’s volunteers and experienced hands trying to bring some order to the campaign as a pro-am civil war.