• Remember the Franklin Roosevelt spent his first term blaming Herbert Hoover for every ill in the nation.He got re-elected twice! That was in the past.
  
• Remember that Harry Truman won a second term over Thomas Dewey by railing against a Republican Do-Nothing Congress. He got elected too, something else from the past.
  
• Remember that Mr. Obama won his first election in Chicago by digging up dirt on his opponent. Mr. Ayers helped with that one. He got elected, and that was in the past.
  
• Remember that Mr. Obama then dug up some dirt from the divorce of his Republican opponent when he ran for the U.S. Senate. He won that one too. (hint: the past)
  
• I was waiting for the "dirt" on John McCain, but by then it was all "Hope and Change" - McCain didn't have a chance and Mr. Obama didn't need to dig out McCain's dalliances that had been rumored during his time in DC- besides, it was all George Bush's fault - still in the past.
  

So now two Republican presidential candidates, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich have suddenly had disparaging information of a sexual nature turn up in the media - at least Newt has the verbal skills and ability to strike back while Mitt Romney plays Obama surrogate on this issue.

And we have conservative republicans attacking former venture capitalist Mitt Romney for providing money to businesses in financial trouble and ex-wives dishing out the dirt about their husband's activities that pale in comparison to some of the past shenanigans in the White House.

The whole primary process this year has me yearning for the old "smoke filled rooms" where candidates used to be vetted and selected.

Yup, I can hear that 5/4 beat; "Now there's revolution, but they don't know what they're fighting, Let us close our eyes, Outside their lives go on much faster, Oh, we won't give in, we'll just go living in the past." 

You tell 'em Ian