by ANDREW LEVINE
In the run up to the Presidential election of 1960, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Harvard historian and Kennedy courtier, published a book called Kennedy or Nixon: Does It Make Any Difference? Schlesinger had to struggle to find reasons to claim that it was important that Kennedy win.
It came down mainly to noblesse oblige. Lucky for him that JFK’s opponents had started out as poor boys. He’d have had to delve deep into his bag of tricks if Averell Harriman, not Hubert Humphrey, had run against his aspiring Prince in the Wisconsin and West Virginia primaries; or if Nelson Rockefeller, not Richard Nixon, had been the Republican nominee.
Schlesinger’s argument was a stretch, but the question he asked needed answering. In mid-century America, Democrats and Republicans were very much alike, and everyone knew it. So were Kennedy and Nixon.
Kennedy, of course, had style. Everyone now knows about his many ailments, including Addison’s Disease, his addiction to painkillers and his compulsive philandering. However, at the time, he seemed youthful, athletic and vigorous.
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The Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, is pathetic, but it is better than nothing, which is all the Republicans are offering now. This is an important difference.
If Obamacare doesn’t founder before it gets going, it will probably result in many currently uninsured persons finally gaining health insurance protection. But it will also further entrench the power of private insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, the for-profit health care industry, and other profiteers.
It will therefore make real reform more difficult, while empowering and enriching the already rich and powerful forces standing in its way.
Still, it is fair to say that the good it will do outweighs the bad, and that the difference is as important as anything Schlesinger was able to come up with for supporting Kennedy over Nixon.
So, yes, it makes a difference, a small one. Had the GOP not fallen headlong into the dark side, the difference would be smaller still.
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