1984 Question

[Silent Hunter]

How did Mondale get whipped so comprehensively?

[A18]

He ran as a liberal.

[minionofmidas]

That, plus, a badly planned campaign and a lot of bad luck on top.

[Bugs]

I've often wondered how many Democrats really believed Mondale stood much of a chance in 1984, at least by election time.  It was suggested on election night in 1996 that Bob Dole was making a farewell tour of the country more than he was campaigning for president.  This may have been a reporter who favored Clinton trying to acknowledge Dole's distinguished career, but there may have some truth to it.  Mondale wasn't ready for any farewells, but his chances were smaller than Dole's turned out to be.

[minionofmidas]

In the final weeks, he must have known it was over - although the extent was probably not readily discernible.

[ATFFL]

1984 is unique because it is the only election in American history where the loser knows in advance he will lose and the moment where he realizes he lost is on tape.

Watch the second debate from 1984.  Look at Mondale's face when Reagan does his "youth and inexperience" line.  That is the exact moment when Mondale realizes he will not be moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[iosip]

How did Mondale get whipped so comprehensively?

because the media loved reagan.

[Prospero]

Because Reagan understood the electorate better than any of his peers.  Clinton partially did.  No one has since.  Not either Bush, and not Kerry. 

The key to winning is not to sell an ideology or to convince people.  It is to understand where the electorate is at any given moment and to respond to that.  Sometimes that means explaining where the electorate is wrong and convincing them.  But the key is to address the concerns of the people.

[minionofmidas]

Because Reagan understood the electorate better than any of his peers.  Clinton partially did.  No one has since.  Not either Bush, and not Kerry. 

The key to winning is not to sell an ideology or to convince people.  It is to understand where the electorate is at any given moment and to respond to that.  Sometimes that means explaining where the electorate is wrong and convincing them.  But the key is to address the concerns of the people.

"The most successful politician is he who says what everybody is thinking in the loudest voice" TR

[Will F.D. People]

Why did Mondale get whipped? This is a very important question.

Let's go back to 1979. Jimmy Carter is in office. The American economy had horrible inflation and horrible unemployment, and this had been going on since Nixon. Interest rates were through the roof. The Soviet Union marched into Afghanistan and the US response was to boycott the Olympics. The Iranians invade sovreign US territory and the US appears totally impotent. In 1980 Jimmy Carter orders a hostage rescue mission where 8 helicopters of troops were dispatched. Three break down, there is a collision in the desert, and 8 US servicemen are killed. Not only are they killed but some of their bodies are left behind, the the Iranians parade their body parts around in glee.

Jimmy Carter was obviously uncomfortable with asserting American influence in the world, particularly post-Vietnam. One of his foreign policy initiatives was to cede the Panama Canal and the surrounding Canal Zone to Panama. You can argue the rightness or the wrongness of this, but the net result is a picture of waning American influence -- not only the ability to influence the world but even America's ability to control her own future.  The failed hostage rescue mission was an apt symbol of American impotence -- too late, too poorly executed, and too weak.

Bad economy, international humiliation -- America was a mess. In his famous "malaise" address to the nation (in which he never actually said "malaise") Jimmy Carter blamed, well, America.

Enter Ronald Reagan, someone totally comfortable with the exercise of American power and someone with a plan for the economy.  Beating Carter was probably the least of the problems he faced.  That election wasn't even close (489 to 49 EV, 51-41 PV). Solid Democrat states could not support Carter in 1980. Iran, knowing their position was untenable, released the hostages to coincide with Reagan's inauguration. Once in office Reagan was able to get his then-controversial economic plan through the Democratic House of Representatives by advocating it directly to the American people.

And what happened? It worked. Inflation and umemployment came down. The good economy was a huge issue in the 1984 election. And Reagan was not afraid to use American power to try and shape the world. He was the total anti-Carter. Reagan transformed the way America thought of itself -- from the malaise of Jimmy Carter to the optimism of "Morning in America".

Mondale really never had a chance in 1984. Reagan, who won in a landslide in 1980, won with an even bigger landslide in 1984. There is little doubt he would have won in 1988 if he could have run again.

[dazzleman]

Very good points.

The situation in 1980 was absolutely horrible.  By 1984, the situation, while not perfect, was infinitely better.  Because Reagan represented the better situation and Mondale represented the bad times under Carter, whom he served as VP, why would anybody want to go back?