Raymond Johnson Post Two

At this point in the Stanton campaign, Henry Burton has discovered many of Richard Stanton’s dark secrets. Burton discovers once again towards the end of chapter 5 that Stanton still hasn’t learned to change his smooth talking ways. In this scene Stanton makes a suggestive comment to a random college campaign volunteer as Burton and he walk down the street in Mancheseter. This is just yet another show of how reckless a candidate Stanton surely is. To make matters worse, Stanton also asks Burton to visit Mr. McCollister who claims Stanton impregnated his daughter.
Most likely the reason that Stanton stays involved in the campaign is that he has begun to believe the propaganda his party is using. He has become almost brainwashed by the campaign and completely tied to it. In chapter 5, Stanton claims to feel inspired by the public display of confidence in her son that Stanton’s mother makes while at the campaign headquarters. This shows how Burton is now buying into the image of Stanton as a well-behaved southern gentleman who loves his family and would never do anything wrong, even though he knows this idea could be no farther from the truth. Yet another reason for Burton remaining is that he now gets satisfaction from the success of the party no matter how twisted he knows the man he is promoting is. His morals and thinking have been clouded by the constant exposure to Stanton and his lies. He now believes in a party that doesn’t exist, an idealized version of the campaign he is supposed to be promoting. He tries to convince himself that Stanton is a trustworthy individual, even though contrary evidence is all around him. Pushing him further into the Stanton web of deception is his sexual relationship with Daisy which has continued to grow in chapters 5 and 6. These two chapters leave the reader wondering how far Burton will go to see Stanton elected.