Jimmy Carter's revenge, III

I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this comparison.

Rap and R&B stars Mary J Blige, Missy Elliot and Eve are recording a song to encourage voters away from President Bush in the run-up to the US election.

The trio are re-recording the hit Wake Up Everybody, which was used during the 1976 election to mobilise black voters to back Jimmy Carter.

It will feature on a benefit album for America Coming Together, a campaign group promoting a change of president.

Of course, one would have a difficult time from this article figuring out who these musicians singers are promoting a change to: the name John Kerry appears not once.

Never fear, though: AllahPundit has provided a convenient visual.

Meanwhile, Glenn Reynolds—spurred on by his father's concerns—wonders whether a President Kerry would resemble instead a second coming of Lyndon Johnson.

[I]t's also true that Kerry really wants to be known as one badass mofo. Look at the secret hat. (“He pointed his finger and raised his thumb, creating an imaginary gun… . He smiled and aimed his finger: 'Pow.'”) The war stories. The combat home movies. The constant photos of Kerry with Harleys, guitars, guns, and soldiers. The military posture of the DNC acceptance speech and salute. If Kerry were a Republican, the bargain-basement Freudians among the punditocracy would be having a field day. (As Joan Vennochi wrote: “Clearly, 'modest hero' will not be his epitaph.”)

So what does this mean? Lyndon Baines Johnson was another President with a silver star and a short combat career who seemed to feel that he had a lot to prove. Might Kerry's rather clear desire to be seen as a tough guy make him a surprisingly resilient warrior? Or might it backfire, as it most likely did with LBJ?

And it was only two weeks ago that the Kerry-friendly press was bringing up the shade of Richard Nixon in response to the Senator's talk of a “secret plan” to extricate us from Iraq.

Kerry voted against the first Persian Gulf War, which threw Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1991. Eleven years later, he voted to give Bush authority to use force against Saddam, then voted against a bill to help pay for the conflict as anti-war sentiment threatened to undermine his bid for the Democratic nomination.

In 1968, Nixon sought political gain from anti-war fervor when he touted a secret plan to end the Vietnam War. Kerry, a decorated veteran of that conflict, reminds some of Nixon when he talks of vague deals with foreign leaders.

“I don't care what it sounds like,” Kerry told ABC. “The fact is that I'm not going to negotiate in public today without the presidency.”

So take your pick from an unholy trinity: Jimmy Carter, LBJ, or Richard Nixon. No wonder the Democrats obsess on the current President rather than selling their own nominee.

And credit where it's due: my occasional co-blogger Doug Heinz remarked on the Lyndon Johnson parallels some weeks ago in a phone conversation. I shoulda made him write it up.

Actually, that would have been months ago during the Democratic primaries, but who's counting.

Ok, you'll get a Kerry = LBJ, but does not = Carter post next week.

And, for the record, I'd rather have a Carter than an LBJ...stay tuned.

Yes: of the three models, Carter—aka History's Greatest Monster—is actually the least worrisome.

O my.