With the coming of football, it will be nice to focus on the excitement of the games which hopefully will surpass name, image, and likeness lamentations and give us an alternative to the mudslinging narratives of the presidential election.

One redeeming feature with the staging of the Olympics was that there were no political ads and none of the repugnant blathering from the personal injury lawyers during commercial breaks on television.   

The bashing of candidates seems to move to a new level with every presidential election, but that is nothing new.  When Democrat Grover Cleveland was running for President in 1884, he was linked to a scandal in which he was accused of fathering an illegitimate child.

Republicans came with this ditty: “Ma, Ma, where’s my pa?  Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha.”

The GOP candidate, James G. Blaine, was described by Republicans as the “Continental liar from the state of Maine.”  Blaine was accused of taking kickbacks to the extent that it cost him the election.   The electorate apparently felt it was more acceptable for a politician who might have had an illicit affair over one who was on the take.

In our own state there was a very interesting scene which took place in the race for governor in 1905.  Hoke Smith, who owned the Atlanta Journal, was opposed by Clark Howell, who owned the Atlanta Constitution.  What a donnybrook of mudslinging that must have been.

A notable victim of mudslinging in that era was Col. Jim Smith of the Smithonia community in Oglethorpe County.  Smith, a wealthy and progressive plantation owner, never married and that became a defining issue with his opponents along with a number of newspaper editors in the state.  

When Vince Dooley first thought of entering the political area, he sought the counsel of Earl Leonard, a passionate UGA alumnus who enjoyed several years in Washington as Sen. Richard B. Russell’s press secretary, followed by a career as a lobbyist for Coca-Cola.  He knew the Capitol scene as well as anybody.

“Are you aware of how downright nasty politics can be?” Earl asked Vince who countered with the fact that things often got quite underhanded in football recruiting.

Earl then reminded him that, “Perhaps, but Politicians will make up a boldface lie about you.  You know it is not true. They know it is not true but they will persist until they will convince a segment of the people that it is indeed true.”

Remember what Mark Twain had to say about politics.  “Why waste your money looking up your family tree?  Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.”

I got the following bit of humor from a seasoned Republican. So, if you are Democrat you are welcomed to adjust it to your liking. In the old days, census takers went door to door to solicit the pertinent information in fulfilling the requirements of their job.

At the conclusion of note taking in one instance, the census taker asked the citizen about his political affiliation.  “I am a Republican,” he said, adamantly.  “My daddy was a Republican, my granddaddy was a Republican, and my great granddaddy was a Republican.”

The census taker then asked, “What if your daddy, your granddaddy, and your great granddaddy had been horse thieves?  “Well then,” the man said, “I would have been a Democrat.”  

When mudslinging reaches it nastiest heights, I think about a conversation with former governor Carl Sanders years ago.  If you recall, Sanders defeated Marvin Griffin for governor in 1962.  

At a subsequent Georgia-Florida football weekend, Sanders was entertaining some state VIP visitors at the Cloister at Sea Island. As Carl’s party was about to begin dinner, he saw Marvin Griffin and his wife walk up to the hostess who began shaking her head vigorously. It was obvious that she was informing the folksy Griffin that there was nothing she could do to seat them.  There was no seating possible.

Carl went over and politely invited the Griffin’s to join his party.  “In no time,” he said, “Marvin was regaling the group with his story telling.  He soon had everybody laughing uncontrollably.”   One of Carl’s VIP friends later said, “How in the world did you beat a fellow like that?”

There is no reason politicians can’t be reasonable and civil, but unfortunately, we see and hear the worst. It is downright nauseating.

Do you think Kamala Harris and Donald Trump would ever enjoy a meal together?  You know the answer.  That is when hell would freeze over.