If you don’t look too hard, 2024 can appear to be a rerun of 1968: the president is an old, unpopular Democrat; RFK is running against him; students opposing an ongoing war are demonstrating on campuses all over the country; the convention is in Chicago; and a veteran culture warrior will be the GOP nominee in November. Sounds familiar, right?
But 2024 is not 1968. The war in question is not being fought by Americans. Our cities are not burning. There have been no assassinations. RFK is an independent with a very limited following. There will be no police riot in Chicago this time around. Finally, while Trump has some clear Nixon associations (Roger Stone is hardly the least of them), he has very different strengths and weaknesses than Nixon.
History will not repeat itself. Whether that is a good or a bad thing remains to be seen.