If you haven't seen Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story and want to understand more about American politics, be sure to watch this excellent documentary. He was the consummate spin doctor and mentor of Karl Rove. Atwater was the founding father of the Attack Ads, the Negative Ads, and the general Smear and Slime based political campaign. At the age of 39, he was at the top of the game, having led Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. both to victory. By the age of 40, he was dead from a brain tumor. He had it all, and just as suddenly lost it all.
Atwater was from Aiken, South Carolina, lived from 1951 to 1991, and first worked for Strom Thurmond. He was disliked by people in both parties. Bob Dole said in a speech on the Senate floor, "This is not politics. This is garbage."
He apologized on his death bed and asked for forgiveness, but some people close to him speculated that he was still spinning right till the end. "My campaign-honed strategies of political warfare were simply no match for this dogged opponent," he wrote in Life, in a sad echo of the old flipness of his past. "Cancer is no Democrat."
Website HERE. Obituary in the NY Times HERE.
Let me know if any of you watch it. Thanks!
2 comments:
OMG - Lee Atwater. The King of the Modern Day Rat Fuckers. How could you bear to watch that, Joy?
I admit to experiencing more than a frisson of schadenfreude upon learning of his cancer diagnosis . . . and death! Does that make me evil?
If it does, so be it. Curse his disgusting, despicable soul to hell (if he is right and I am wrong and there is one) for all the bile and nastiness he sowed/unleashed/wrought upon those of us who still inhabit this country.
Burn, baby, burn!!
Of course I totally agree with every word in your comment. It was fascinating to watch, especially since karma worked pretty fast with him. I'm not sure he suffered enough, though.
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