[nkycincinnatikid]

Yee...owchh! thats gotta hurt.

[sgtbono2002]

I compare him more with Benedict Arnold.

[skinkinthegrass]

Thanks...proves, "in history, humane nature doesn't change much" Kerry = Douglas...Hillary Rodham Klintoon = "PAPA JOE" Stalin

[dawn53]

Douglas' last hurrah was his presidential run in 1860. Lincoln received a minority of popular votes cast but won

And how often do you hear that when the Dems complain about Gore winning the popular vote.

Lincoln lost the popular vote too!

[opocno]

Nice historical analogy and analysis!

[LS]

Lincoln showed his early genius when he pinned Douglas down on his "flip-flopping" at Freeport. Douglas claimed to support the Dred Scott decision, which basically would have made it impossible for the U.S. to end slavery by any means (denying BOTH the U.S. Constitution and "states' rights"). But Douglas also supported "popular sovereignty" (let the people of a territory choose to have slavery or not).

Lincoln said, "How can you reconcile these? Which do you support?" And Douglas said, a la Kerry, "both." Slavery should be legal, but if people don't want it, let them elect officials who won't enforce slavery. Lincoln then showed that this institutionalized a total disregard for all laws.

The South abandoned Douglas after he showed people how to "skate" around the law, and the North abandoned him because he supported slavery.

[ClearCase_guy]

If Douglas was known as "The Little Giant", can we call Kerry "The Giant Midget"?

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Small point, but Kerry made the debate challenge in Quincy, not Ottawa. Ottawa was the site for the first Lincoln-Douglas debate, for those interested.

In Illinois, John Kerry Challenges President Bush to a Contest of Ideas

[samtheman]

Kerry specifically called for a series of debates in the style of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Obviously, Kerry sees himself as Lincoln. And just as obviously, the rest of us see him as Lurch.

[mass55th]

Had history turned out a bit differently, Douglas might have married Mary Todd instead of Lincoln. He had been a suitor of hers and she was among the most popular debutantes in her social circle. Her family was fairly well off. Their Kentucky home sat next to that of the well-known Cassius Clay. With her emotional & mental problems, she could have been the Julia Thorne of her time. And with her caustic, slashing tongue, she could have been the Teresa Heinz of that day as well. Who knows how things would have gone. Mary might have been institutionalized or died earlier and Douglas free to divorce her and marry a new rich wife. Stranger things have happened.

[StonyBurk]

Ouch-- and I've been whispering that JohnKerry was Custer
reincarnate --only the luck of dying at the Little Bighorn,
and the pluck Custer showed when he was a decorated military
veteran is a might lacking as so much is in Kerry.

[skinkinthegrass]

reply #4..."PAPA UNCLE JOE".. :|

[oswald]

I think there's a strong analogy as well to the election of 1864 (Lincoln vs McClellan). An incumbent in a divisive war vs a challenger charging "the war cannot be won and I have the credentials to lead, not you Lincoln". If not for military victories in the election year of 1864, things may have well turned out differently.....