Is Donald Trump Andrew Jackson or Aaron Burr?
It seems establishment Republicans can’t make up their mind. Those who believe that the 2016 Republican primary season has been the dirtiest campaign in American history need to think again.
The pro-Cruz people recently took a shot at Trump that mirrored the 1828 campaign between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. The Adams camp accused Jackson’s wife, Rachel, of being a woman with loose morals. She in fact was still married when she and Andy tied the knot, so the accusation was true, but when Jackson found out who was behind the rumor, Henry Clay, he never forgave him and spent his eight years in office doing everything possible to thwart Clay’s political ambitions.
Enter Melania Trump. A political ad circulating social media aimed to shame Trump voters by using a provocative picture of Mrs. Trump from a GQ magazine shoot to show her as a woman of questionable standards. “Would you want this woman in the White House?” Trump responded by taking a shot at Mrs. Cruz and social media was set on fire. The Cruz people need to remember that this tactic didn’t work in 1828. Jackson won. Still, the low blow by the Adams camp led to Rachel Jackson’s death. The stress of the campaign caused a heart attack. Dragging a candidate’s spouse through the mud is an old tactic, but one that can have terrible consequences. And it doesn’t work. No one likes these types of attacks.
Of course, Mr. Clinton should be fair game in the general election. That spouse is different, and we won’t have to worry about a provocative photo of Bill.
What about Aaron Burr? When Burr and Thomas Jefferson ended the 1800 election in a tie, the Federalist controlled House of Representatives had to choose the winner. No one in that faction liked Jefferson, and Federalist leaders considered throwing the election to Burr. Some suggested that if Jefferson were to win, New England would secede (those who think secession was born in the South in 1860 need to read up on a push for New England secession as early as 1794). This was a real political crisis. The Union was in peril.
