This is a really cool comparison of the 1896 presidential election and Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz. I don't know if I buy it, but it's still interesting. I really like this part:
I’d love to hear your ideas on how today’s personalities fit into the Wizard of Oz.
Here are my choices:
The Wizard: George W. Bush (obvious choice)
The Cowardly Lion: John Kerry (again, the obvious choice)
The Scarecrow: Can I vote for Bush twice? No? OK, I'll say these are the hawkish neocons.
The Tinman: Big business, currently benefitting from the Scarecrow's war.
The Wicked Witch of the East: This is a toughy. I'm going to go with physicians, who are firmly on the side of the Republicans, and who maliciously keep our insurance costs high, while desperately trying to lower their own.
The Wicked Witch of the West: John Aschroft, bringer of social conservativism.
The Flying Monkeys: Religious conservatives. I realize this fits better with the movie version than the book, but hey, none of my analogies fit very well anyway.
Dorothy: Joe Schmoe American, who views Bush (the Wizard) as a savior despite the fact that his policies serve neither his economic interests nor his social concerns.
Toto: Undecided voters. You'd have to be as dumb as a small dog to be undecided at this point, and it's looking more and more like they're going to blindly follow Dorothy.
(Link shamelessly stolen from
Lawyers, Guns, and Money)
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