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

[Free Bird]

One would think that he would've at least been in the top tier along with Hart and Mondale just from name recognition and general respect alone...

Inspired by the "Best Senator From Ohio" poll over at Individual Politics

[KingSweden]

He was widely seen as stiff on the stump and “The Right Stuff” came out around that time, overshadowing his actual campaign

[Badger]

I remember this issue as I was avidly following the 1984 presidential campaign. Senator Gary Hart was actually the first guy I went door-to-door and calling phones campaigning for.

Remember that the Democratic primary started as Walter Mondale versus the rest. The media initially placed John Glenn is the main Challenger for the nomination. However, neither he nor his campaign were ready. Yes, part of it is he was boring and stiff on the campaign stop. The movie The Right Stuff was supposed to propel him into a major contender. It didn't hurt at all, but I remember one columnist rather aptly noting that when voters looked at Ed Harris's Steely eyed portrayal of Glenn on the big screen, versus the relatively uninspiring real life speaker on the stump, they couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

Also, Glenn didn't have a whole lot to contrast with Mondale. They were nearly identical on most the issues, with Mondale perhaps being a bit more unions and protectionism friendly, but only by degrees. However, Glenn was somehow portrayed, as much by his own campaign as the media, as something of a more moderate choice. And I think we all know, the term moderate frankly doesn't appeal to meny Democrats, or Republicans, or even Independents. It Comes crosses mealy-mouthed, indecisive, and not standing for anything. A label like that is not good for any candidate, let alone one who was patently uninspiring on the stump and struggling to distinguish himself from his major opponent.

The other Factor was Gary Hart. He and his new ideas campaign caught fire among the technocratic, Yuppie wing of the party, and provided it clear contrast to Mondale who for obvious reasons seem like a new deal Democrat of the past rather than of the high-tech future. Gary Hart's support in the party was essentially Obama - blacks,  a plurality of whom were supporting Jesse Jackson's campaign, with a significant portion still supporting Mondale.

Anywho, Hart's new ideas and Kennedy esque campaign image Drew voters to him much more strongly then Glen being a so-called moderate with a space hero background. Glenn crashed and burned in the activist friendly Iowa caucuses while Hart finished second. A distant second, but enough to make him a national figure and Propel him over the top in New Hampshire a week later where he had laid Hedy groundwork in a state not friendly to Mondale.

From that point on it was a two-man race between Mondale and Hart, with Glenn hanging on in the hopes of a miracle which never materialized. The best he ever did was to essentially the for second place in the Alabama primary well behind Mondale on super Tuesday. a day or two after which he dropped out.

Here are three more problems the Glenn campaign had, taken from Pages 76 through 78 of the book visions of America by William a Henry III, a very good making of the president Style Insider's novel about the 84 election.

The first was to hire seasoned professional operatives, tell them they had Authority, then ignore their advice and fire them. Glenn brought the professionals into his campaign in an effort to look less provincial. He succeeded only in making himself seem more isolated and, worse, unwilling to do the hearts logging needed to win. 1 veteran Washington columnist snorted, he's waiting for the puff of white smoke to come up like it does for the Pope.

Glenn's second mistake was in reaching for some issue on which to confront special interest group, so as to underline his independence and, by implication, mondale's excessive difference. Unfortunately, the group he chose to confront was homosexuals and the occasion was a New York City Forum to which he got himself invited, regarding gay rights legislation. The book notes Glenn was not a bigot and had an open homosexual as one of his top campaign aides. But that fact made it his decision all the worst in the eyes of aides and reporters which saw what he did is cynical grandstanding. The fact he did it in New York which at the time had and increasingly powerful gay rights movement her him in the local press which transmitted to the national press. It drove out one of his few elected official supporters who represented a largely gay district in the state assembly.

The third mishap was not primarily of Glens making, but it was by far the worst. New York Times columnist William safire prompted in part by remarks Glenn had made in private at a dinner party, questioned and print weather Glen was sufficiently friendly toward Israel. While he took steps to mollify powerful American Jewish organizations, the damage was done.

In all, Glenn was a much better presidential candidate on paper than he was in reality. It's a shame because out of all the many candidates running that year, in hindsight he was probably the best qualified to lead the nation from 1984 onwards, including both my choice of the time, Gary hard, and President Reagan himself.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Ray Gun Smash!

[Badger]

Ray Gun Smash!

Actually Mondale and Gary Hart, but that makes it all the sadder and more pathetic.

[longtimelurker]

Because the Democratic Party establishment shoved Mondale down the throat of the Democratic Party voters.  Not entirely dissimilar from 2016.  Same ultimate result.  It didn't matter in 1984; no Democrat would have stood a chance.  But the Democratic Party establishment forgot history, so they were condemned to repeat it in 2016.

I voted for Gary Hart in the primary.  So did my older brother.  This was even after our labor-union father handed both of us a written list of the Mondale delegates to vote for.

[GeorgiaModerate]

...long interesting post snipped...

Badger said it all very well.  At the time I was cutting loose from the Republican party and searching for a political home.  As a long-time space nut and working at the time in the aerospace industry, I really wanted to like Glenn and for him to catch fire.  Unfortunately, his campaign turned out to be a dud, one of the bigger disappointments of any candidate I've rooted for.  I ended up voting for the Libertarian that November.

[dw93]

He shouldn't have ran in '84 and instead let Mondale or Hart take the fall to Reagan, avoided the Keating 5 scandal, and ran in 1988. He would've been much more electable than Dukakis was and so long as Glenn avoided the Keating 5 scandal, there'd be nothing for Bush and Atwater to exploit.

[Fuzzy Bear]

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.

[Sumner 1868]

Gary Hart as a serious presidential contender is one of those cheesy things that could only have happened in the 80s.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Because the Democratic Party establishment shoved Mondale down the throat of the Democratic Party voters.  Not entirely dissimilar from 2016.  Same ultimate result.  It didn't matter in 1984; no Democrat would have stood a chance.  But the Democratic Party establishment forgot history, so they were condemned to repeat it in 2016.

I voted for Gary Hart in the primary.  So did my older brother.  This was even after our labor-union father handed both of us a written list of the Mondale delegates to vote for.

Democratic party establishment in 1984: "The lack of superdelegates led to a candidate who lost 49 states being nominated in 1972. We must have superdelegates to prevent that from happening again."
Democratic superdelegates choose Mondale.

Geniuses.

[Cory]

Thank you Badger for your enlightening post.

[Indy Texas]

Gary Hart as a serious presidential contender is one of those cheesy things that could only have happened in the 80s.

Hart was a bad parody of the Democrats' 1970s-1990s attempts to reinvent themselves as the liberal party for upscale educated white people. And his 1988 sex scandal was basically a preview of the tabloid-ized politics that would become the norm in the '90s and beyond.

Allegedly he used to brag in private that he was glad he never got any union endorsements.

[CookieDamage]

Because the Democratic Party establishment shoved Mondale down the throat of the Democratic Party voters.  Not entirely dissimilar from 2016.  Same ultimate result.  It didn't matter in 1984; no Democrat would have stood a chance.  But the Democratic Party establishment forgot history, so they were condemned to repeat it in 2016.

I voted for Gary Hart in the primary.  So did my older brother.  This was even after our labor-union father handed both of us a written list of the Mondale delegates to vote for.

Democratic Party voters voted for Hillary by like a 3 million vote margin over Sanders... and she's highly popular among dems. Not sure where the whole "shoving down Democratic voters throats" come from. Nice #HotTake.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Because the Democratic Party establishment shoved Mondale down the throat of the Democratic Party voters.  Not entirely dissimilar from 2016.  Same ultimate result.  It didn't matter in 1984; no Democrat would have stood a chance.  But the Democratic Party establishment forgot history, so they were condemned to repeat it in 2016.

I voted for Gary Hart in the primary.  So did my older brother.  This was even after our labor-union father handed both of us a written list of the Mondale delegates to vote for.

Democratic Party voters voted for Hillary by like a 3 million vote margin over Sanders... and she's highly popular among dems. Not sure where the whole "shoving down Democratic voters throats" come from. Nice #HotTake.

Far-left, just like far-right, has some difficulty comprehending the whole concept of the guy with the most votes winning.

[Sumner 1868]

Just a reminder that a certain poster in this thread has called for Syriza officials to be rounded up.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Just a reminder that a certain poster in this thread has called for Syriza officials to be rounded up.

Just a reminder than a certain poster in this thread makes up things whenever he is unable to win an argument.