No. But you have to be willfully obtuse to not know
by 88_92WSND (2023-12-28 19:24:04)

In reply to: So only bad people run for office now?  posted by sprack

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about their pecadillos today. Sure, John Q Adams supporters sung about the Devil coming if Adams didn't win, and someone else had a song about their illegitimate child, but there wasn't a constant drumbeat on the population of every real or perceived fault. Nor were the politicians subjected to an endless barrage from all corners.

Put it this way - FDR had a piece on the side (as did Eleanor, probably). The press knew and said little. How long do you think the story of a Cabinet official propositioning train employees, or a Senator getting caught in a gay brothel lousy with foreign spies would stay "inside baseball" today? When was the last time the editor of a news outlet found a piece of dirt on an opponent too prurient to run?

It's not just personal failings that get sread around. Moderates who dare to talk to moderates of 'the other side' get raked over the coals. McCain, Romney are "RINOs". Spanberger got excoriated by one of the 'squad' for daring to mention that a Republican position was reasonable. The slightest whisper of considering the other side to be something other than the devil incarnate results in one side or the other broadcasting calls to put the congressman's office on 'blast'.

Until the little blue dress, the Wonkette, the Drudge report, outside of the DC area there was limited hard dirt on the transgressions of the big guys. Between not having privacy and having the depravity of the powerful broadcast constantly, what rational person would put up with it?

Again I refer you to the 1884 election
by sprack  (2023-12-28 19:50:10)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

The “hands-off” press was mostly an early to mid-20th century phenomenon.

In 1884, in contrast, the biggest personal issue in the presidential campaign was how Grover Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock. Interestingly, he survived the attack by doing something unusual: he told the truth and acknowledged it immediately. It took the wind out of the sails of the accusation.

As for FDR, the bigger coverup was his disability. The press really didn’t know anything about his affair, because he was very discreet about it.
I'm aware of the 1884 election
by 88_92WSND  (2023-12-28 20:15:45)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

thus "someone else had a song about their illegitimate child,"

Kids out of wedlock also came up around Van Buren.
Prior to the 20th century
by AquinasDomer  (2023-12-28 19:30:39)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

Politics was quite partisan and nasty. In the era of reconstruction you had armed mobs working to suppress the black votes, mobs and fisticuffs outside of that area, and daily journalism focusing on politics (most news papers were founded as partisan organs).

The press around the 1800 election was hysterical with each side convinced the other was the doom of the country.

People died in an election fight in Philly
by 88_92WSND  (2023-12-28 19:53:48)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

around the time the first Frigates were being built. I'm aware of the level of partisanship that existed around elections - one of the CDs we have sitting one room over is a collection of campaign songs from most of the US elections through the middle of the 20th Century (crossing the streams of folk music interest and history interest can be a dangerous thing). But a fever pitch every few years in the past, requiring people to opt in (ie buy the paper, vs it being the headline on a thousand media outlets), and the sheer scale of communications today vs the need for proximity in the past completely changes the equation.
Ie if I want to complain to John Quincy Adams, I have to write him a letter. Drumming up a thousand of my followers to harangue him takes time, money, and lots of paper. The reason political machines worked was because they could harness manpower, which was necessary to get anything concerted and coordinated to happen. Today, a letter to the congressman is quaint because hundreds of causes every day are 'reaching out' to their representative. Lighting up the switchboard is a common occurrence.