You're no URNOJFK

Some of you young folks may not remember much about the 1988 Presidential election. It went badly. But it did boast one beautiful moment, one iconic, pop-culture incident that stands out. It came in, of all places, the Vice-Presidential debate. Dan Quayle (remember him?) was trying to deflect criticism that he was too young and inexperienced to be the VP. He said at one point during the debate that “I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of vice president of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency.” Which, incidentally, wasn’t true, but we’ll let that go.

Anyway, Lloyd Bentsen responded with an all-time great line: “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy; I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.”

And the crowd went wild, and we all went wild. It was really the only bright spot for the Dems in that campaign. (The GOP had their own iconic moment, of course; remember the Snoopy helmet?)

So, there was this person in Richmond back then who went out and got a personalized plate put on her car that read “URNOJFK.” Mama spotted it first and told me about it (I can’t remember now if the person in question was a friend of hers). And a little while later I happened to come across it on one of my late-night walking, thinking, singing and drinking sessions. For the next few months I brought all my friends by to look at it. I never got tired of it, you know? It was a welcome voice of defiance during the Daddy Bush presidency. Every time I’d pass that corner, and she was home, it would make me smile.

She kept it throughout his mercifully short term. She kept it when the Clintons came to power, too (and after the election results were final in 1992, my friends and I went out and toasted the license plate in the middle of the night). For ten years or more, that license plate was a standard tourist stop for me. Every time I went home, I would be sure to stop by the apartment, near the meeting of Elwood and the Boulevard, to see that car. Dude, it just never got old.

This past time, when I was home, I went by to see it, just before leaving town. And it wasn’t there! I was heartbroken. There was a car parked in her old space, though, that had a plate on it saying DEMOCAT. D’ya think it’s maybe the same woman? If it is, I wish someone would tell her that this is much less cool.