"Tippecanoe...and Tyler too"

[David Morris]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/24/9502/4588/41/638645

Through A Cracked Mirror

Humor site Cracked.com has a list devoted to the historical origins of
negative ads in presidential campaigns of yore. They're all
interesting, but the one that has been the most reliable through the
ages is #3 on the list -- the attack on "elitism."

" Whenever a presidential candidate speaks well or seems particularly
clean, the immediate strategy of that candidate's opponent is to trash
them as elitist, someone who thinks he's better than the hardworking,
God-fearing general public. "

" In 1840, this was taken to an awesome, hilarious extreme. The
nominee for the Whig party, the old-as-shit William Henry Harrison,
gave himself the label of the "Log Cabin and Hard Cider candidate."
Basically Joe Six Pack. The plan of course was to make the opposing
Democrats and Martin Van Buren look like a bunch of elitist
aristocrats. "

The truth was that Harrison was from a wealthy and politically
connected family. Rather than being born in a log cabin, he was born
on a plantation and lived in a mansion. None of that stopped him from
claiming to be the champion of the common man.
Harrison was also a war hero. He was the "Tippecanoe" in the "...and
Tyler too" slogan.  Tippecanoe was a battle that Harrison led against
the Shawnee where, despite having a large advantage in forces, his
troops still took more casualties. But he later invaded Canada, and
everyone thought that was pretty cool.

So we have a wealthy aging war hero who runs as the hard-drinkin'
friend of the little folk. And it worked. Harrison won in a blow out.
There was just one little problem for team Whig: the "aging" part.
Harrison was the oldest president elected pre-Ronald Reagan, and just
weeks after settling into the White House, Harrison died. That left
"Tyler too" in charge of the place.

" John Tyler (described as a "poor, miserable, despised imbecile" and
given the nickname "His Accidency") took over the White House. Tyler
was one of the most hated presidents of all time and was nearly
impeached.
Why did we bring that up?  No reason at all.  Really. "

And what was going on in the US at the time? That would be a collapse
of the financial system due to a speculative bubble.
It's unknown how Tyler felt about moose.