A New America Series - 1976 General Election1976 proved to be a turning point for the Democratic Party. The two major candidates, President Mark Hatfield and Former President George McGovern, had fought in the previous election with few ideological differences. President Hatfield, while personally respected, is generally unpopular due to the lack of success of his administration, and McGovern's tenure in office proved isolating, ideologically driven, and ultimately resulted in his loss of re-election. The two unpopular frontrunners and bastions of moderate/liberal policies proved too much for conservative voters, as Congressman Larry McDonald ran a very successful campaign. Prior to the debates, McDonald trailed at 14%, behind Hatfield, at 36%, and McGovern at 40%. This proved to be a pivotal point in the election. McDonald looked, calm, informed, and level-headed, even as his policy statements proved extreme to some voters. McGovern, on the other hand, began to falter, showing a lack of preparation and an inability to defend himself from the criticism that he would be the President of "Amnesty, Acid, and Abortion".
After that, Hatfield, realizing he would lose a substantial amount of Republicans, began running a centrist campaign that appealed to college educated whites, minorities, moderate Democrats and moderate independents. Hatfield's coalition proved big enough to win him an election against the insurgent McDonald, but McDonald managed some surprising victories nevertheless - He beat the Democratic candidate McGovern by a substantial margin in the electoral college, and elected several of his very conservative allies to the Senate, whether under his party name or not (like Senator-elect John Williams, former construction worker actually registered in the Constitution Party, or Senator-elect Paul Gann, a registered Republican who endorsed McDonald over Hatfield).
President Mark Hatfield (R-OR)/Vice President Howard Baker (R-TN) - 36.7%, 286 EV'sCongressman Larry McDonald (C-GA)/Congressman Ron Paul (C-TX) - 34.7%, 231 EV's
Former President George McGovern (D-SD)/Governor Albert Brewer (D-AL) - 28.6%, 21 EV's
Poll
