Muskie as Punchline, Part Deux

Once again, the late Maine Senator Edmund Muskie's legacy just cannot shake his loss in the 1972 Democratic presidential primary.

First, on Sunday, a pundit on Meet the Press said Sen. Hillary Clinton would become "Ed Muskie in a pantsuit," if she failed to right the seemingly mighty ship that was her presidential campaign (I tackled that comment here). Today, after Sen. Clinton showed a brief crack in her signature stoicism (read: she pretty much cried in public), references to Sen. Muskie's tears (or were they snowflakes?) during the '72 primary jumped out. The folks at The New Republic's blog, "Plank," for example, referred to it as Sen. Clinton's "Non-Muskie Moment." Too bad the only time we hear Ed Muskie's name in the national media nowadays is when someone suffers an upset loss in a primary or when a politician sheds tears on the campaign trail.

It just shows you that, even when you give a man, I don't know, clean water and fresh air, he'll never forget the time you committed that faux pas on a very public stage. Nor will he let you forget.

- John C.L. Morgan

P.S. I never planned to become a Muskie apologist. It must be the provincial side of me.

Muskie as Punchline

It's tough being Edmund Muskie's national legacy these days.

Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist appearing on this morning's Meet the Press, said of Sen. Hillary Clinton: "[I]f she doesn't grab this thing fast...she's going to turn into Ed Muskie in a pantsuit and there's no chance." Murphy, of course, was comparing Sen. Clinton's recent loss in the Iowa caucuses to the late Maine Senator Ed Muskie's surprising defeat in the 1972 Democratic presidential primary. The Muskie in a pantsuits line was funny. Too bad it was just as clumsy.

Yes, Sen. Muskie was an early frontrunner for the Democratic Party's nomination for presidency in 1972. And, yes, Sen. Clinton was the early pick for that party's nomination in 2008. And, yes, both failed (or are failing) to live up to the expectations of the prognosticators. But that is where the similarities end.

Sen. Muskie, for example, actually won the Iowa caucus in 1972, whereas Sen. Clinton finished third in last week's Iowa caucus. Moreover, Sen. Muskie went on to win the New Hampshire primary. So, even though he did eventually collapse, Muskie did at least falter with a few early primary victories to his name. Or, as Yogi Berra might say, at least he failed successfully. Sen. Clinton, on the other hand, has not. Not yet, anyway.

I give Murphy credit, though: At least he didn't refer to the Canuck letter or, um, snowflakes.

- John C.L. Morgan