GWB, unperson

samefacts.com
GWB, unperson
Posted by Mark Kleiman

In Nineteen Eighty-four, a Party member who lost a power struggle became an "unperson." All references to him in existing records had to be deleted. That was part of Winston Smith's job.

It looks as if a certain George W. Bush has become an unperson in the mind of Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va.). Caught in a tight race with Judy Feder (a policy wonk's policy wonk, the dean of Public Policy at Georgetown) in a Northern Virgina district where Bush has become unpopular, Wolf seems to have scrubbed his campaign website of references to the Beloved Leader.

Here's the old version, captured in a screenshot by the alert folks at the Feder campaign:

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But guess what's missing from the current version of the Wolf website?

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I'm glad Bush is unpopular, and I'm glad Wolf is smart enough to recognize that fact. Still, tossing your party leader, who also happens to be the President, down the Memory Hole does seem a little bit excessive, not to say disingenuous.

Wolf is personally popular, though some of his positions (e.g., against stem-cell research) aren't, so Feder has faced an uphill battle. But she seems to be closing the gap: a new robo-poll has Wolf leading, but by only 47-42. Five points down isn't as good as five points up, but on the other hand long-time incumbents don't usually pick up many undecided votes, especially not if they're Republicans running in Purple districts this year.