Any politician hoping to win an election would do well to follow the following maxims of political strategy.
“Make sure you have the backing of your family and friends.” “Surround yourself with the right people.” “Call in all favors.” “Build a wide base of support.” “Promise everything to everybody.” “Communication skills are key.” “Don’t leave town.” “Know the weaknesses of your opponents — and exploit them.” “Flatter voters shamelessly.” “Give people hope.”
Those words of advice could easily have been spoken by the campaign managers of either Obama or Romney…and I’m sure they were. But if so, they would only be repeating the advice of a political consultant who wrote those words over 2000 years ago in a book titled How To Win An Election. In 64 BC, Quintus Tullius Cicero was advising his brother, Marcus, who was seeking the highest office in the Roman republic – consul.
Cicero finished off with this bit of political wisdom…
Finally, as regards the Roman masses, be sure to put on a good show. Dignified, yes, but full of the color and spectacle that appeals so much to crowds. It also wouldn’t hurt to remind them of what scoundrels your opponents are and to smear these men at every opportunity with the crimes, sexual scandals, and corruption they have brought on themselves.
I’m sure attack ads worked as well in 64 BC as they do these days.
Oh, and the advice worked. Marcus won that election for Roman consul although it should be noted that he was helped by the fact that his opponent was a wealthy, soulless and self-serving serial liar with the inner convictions of a gnat. Or so I’m told.
UPDATE
Had a request to post a closeup of the Romney bust, so here it is along with a new caption that gets at the heart of who the man is.
(h/t: TheDish)
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So, you’re saying, history does have a way of repeating itself?
Yes, I am.
Got a big chuckle out of the title to your clever illustration, Mario! Old Etch-A-Sketch Mitt has done it again — now he’s backtracking his support of portions of Obamacare. He’s a piece of work!
I think something got lost in the interpretation of my above post — what I am trying to say is Mittens is softening his position on Obamacare and now coming out in favor of some of its features. I wonder if the powerful speeches and real life stories concerning the benefits of Obamacare from last week’s DNC convention and the outpouring of support for it might have something to do with his new enlightenment??
Karen doesn’t understand Romney. He was never going to gut obamacare completely. He’s saying what he has to to get elected just like your boy Barry. The only thing that matters in this election is the economy so liberals can talk about Romney, obamacare, abortion and whatever else they want. IT DOESN’T MATTER! It won’t have any effect on the outcome. All that matters is that everyone understands that Obama destroyed the economy.
Marcus, you show your ignorance too well! Obama didn’t destroy the economy, Bush did. Bush inherited a huge surplus from Clinton and he turned it into a mega deficit. Obama inherited the huge mess that Bush created, and no one could have turned it around over night. That would have been like standing in front of a bullit train with your hand out and expecting to bring it to a halt. Romney swings which ever way the wind blows, he owes too much to questionable big money and will be a disaster for the country if elected.
No one asked Barry to fix the economy overnight. He’s had FOUR YEARS and he’s failed miserably. Romney deserves a chance to show what he can do and whatever you might think of him, he can’t do any worse than Obama.
Marcus if you don’t really want to learn anything truthful, which is evident because you keep hounding the same bologna, over, and over, and aren’t listening to what people say here, and apparently aren’t even trying to to see the truth for yourself. Are you making any progress, getting any favorable results to your misguided way of thinking? No. Maybe you just need to rant your BS, and hope to make these good, strong minds you keep railing against to think like you. How dumb is that? How about you just get a grip, find your peace, and really do some research. It’s time consuming, yes, but it’s the only way you will unlock the part of your brain that makes you think critically, rather then acting out on your emotions.
Mucus,,, I remember Bush signing the first of the stimulus bills weeks before Obama even stepped one foot into the Whitehouse,,, So saying Obama caused the mess is just plain ignorant… Think of it this way,,, Obama has laid a strong foundation so a future collapse wouldn’t happen on a whim and a change of parties… Believe me, it was no accident wall street CEO’s cashed in on stimulus money by giving themselves outrageous bonuses… And to say Romney couldn’t do worse is truly insane,,, Romney was near the bottom of the list in job growth when he was Gov of Massachusetts – Scuttling factories is a lot different then being a leader,,, Romney’s the type of person that would high five Bernie Madoff if he thought no one would see.
Just one point to brain washed Marcus.The Stock Market was about $6000 .it is NOW about $13000 and you call this ruining the economy.”Stupid is what Stupid does”It is a waste of time to mention facts to any Repug.As my Grandma used to say”Not all Repugs are stupid ,but all stupid people are Repugs”
Where did I write that Barry created the original economic collapse? NOWHERE! I did not say he created the crisis. I’m saying he’s not fixing it. His economic policies are not working. That should be clear enough for even a liberal to understand. Barry’s been president for 4 years now. How much more time should we give him before he digs the hole so deep that we’ll never be able to recover.
You don’t have to like Romney. I’m not even crazy about him but he deserves an opportunity to show us what he can do. Keep your minds open libs. Barry’s not the wonderboy you wanted him to be.
All that matters is that everyone understands that Obama destroyed the economy.
No, Marcus, you said he destoyed it. This is the same as creating the economic collapse.
It always takes longer to build than destroy. The Twin Towers went down pretty fast. How long did it take to build them?
Sorry Obama isn’t fast enough for you. It is ironic that you want to give the controls back to the party that drove the country over the cliff.
Like I saw on a sign – Voting for Romney because Obama hasn’t fixed the mess fast enough for you – is like hiring a child molester to babysit because the regular babysitter is 15 minutes late.
Thank you Cheryl – I didn’t know I would have to explain what Marcus wrote by himself to himself?
I’m sure marcus is winning a lot of converts. haha repeating the same tired old bullshit doesn’t make it true. I just checked my library and they have that book, i’ll be reading it soon