Why Did John Glenn's 1984 Presidential Bid Fail So Badly?

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

Mondale had locked up so much support early on.  The unions.  Key endorsements of high-profile Democrats.  Women's groups.  These endorsements led other rivals to refer Mondale as the candidate of "special interests".  In this, those folks did the Democratic Party an incredible disservice.

The GOP, by and large, is the party of "special interests". Corporations.  Chambers of Commerce.  Business Organizations.  These are "special interests"; organizations that represent relatively few people in relation to the money they generate.

The Democrats, on the other hand, are the party of "mass constituencies".  Feminists, Gays, minority groups, unions; these are MASS CONSTITUENCIES; categories of persons in which a large number of individuals make up the group.  The attacks on Mondale for this hurt the image of both the Mondale campaign and the Democratic Party as a whole.

That being said, the Mondale campaign was poorly run.  He picked a poor running mate, he didn't exploit the issues Reagan gave him, and one of the big issues Mondale campaigned on (the deficit) was an issue no one believed Mondale would honestly try to address.