The Daily Intelligencer’s Take on the 1876 Political Circus

Until the result of the Cincinnati Convention was announced, the presidential hopefuls were the most prominent in the land. Whether through the agency of themselves, their partisans, or their antagonists, they were the 'cynosure of all eyes.' Blaine in particular was a masterly tactician and an adept in the art of producing dramatic effects. Few perhaps will question that these men have ample ability to fill the office of the presidency, but the fact to be regretted is that they were open and indefatigable seekers for an office which it is the right of the country to confer of her own accord upon the man whom she chooses to honor. They made a determined struggle for the prize, and it is a cause of chagrin that so brave a fight should have so inglorious a termination because waged only for a selfish end. The lesson taught with emphatic force is that the presidency should seek the man, and not the man the presidency. The guild of the professional politician is a sort of fifth wheel to the coach. The farmer, the merchant, the manufacturer, and the professional man contribute to the good of the community, but the mere politicians 'toil not, neither do they spin.' It is this class of men who make it their business to reap where they have not sowed that have steered the ship of state into the shoals of danger.