"In 1948, normal domestic issues dominated the presidential campaign. Foreign policy did not become a major point because the Republicans did not choose to make it one, for a very good reason. They were very much a part of the existing policies, and more important, they did not think they needed the issue. Out of power for sixteen years, they were now confident, indeed overconfident, of victory; they felt themselves rich in Democratic scandals, and they overestimated the degree of unhapiness in the country. They also underestimated Truman as a political figure."
David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest (Penguin, 1972)
Pois. É o problema das vitórias antecipadas. Ainda hoje, por mais voltas que o mundo dê, continua sempre a haver quem ache que «está no papo».
Ora bem, compadre. Sessenta e um anos depois, no cantinho mais ocidental da Europa, não falta por aí quem repita os erros cometidos pelos republicanos na campanha presidencial de 1948. A primeira das leis da história é esta: ela repete-se.