Perhaps it’s years of experiencing presidential elections – age, some might say – that entice people to compare one election with another.
Indeed, when individuals compare anything new they experience with something that happened to them before, they feel more comfortable about the new experience.
The two experiences are never exactly the same, but the similarities offer a point of departure.
Such is the case with November’s expected clash between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Four months ago, the fall battle was being compared to the 1972 re-election campaign between Republican President Richard Nixon and Democratic Sen. George McGovern. Before Watergate was a blip on the radar screen, the then-president was sailing toward a second term on the strength of bringing home troops from Vietnam and successful forays into China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. His opponent, meanwhile, was thought by many to be the most liberal candidate ever to receive a presidential nomination.