Did Walter Mondale make a mistake picking Geraldine Ferraro?
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  Did Walter Mondale make a mistake picking Geraldine Ferraro?
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Author Topic: Did Walter Mondale make a mistake picking Geraldine Ferraro?  (Read 1154 times)
Cyrusman
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« on: February 11, 2020, 05:13:05 PM »

1984 was a different time and I’m not so sure the country was ready for a female to be on the ticket. Had he picked someone else would he have won?
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Pericles
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« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2020, 06:24:59 PM »

It may have been a slight factor, but he would have lost in a landslide regardless.
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sg0508
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« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2020, 06:50:57 PM »

When you have little chance to begin with, you have to be bold. He tried and lost.

Her husband's shenanigans didn't help matters though.
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538Electoral
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« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2020, 11:23:17 PM »

No. He would've lost either way.
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Agonized-Statism
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« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2020, 09:18:10 AM »

It was a solid choice for a hopeless election. She got a lot of women excited about voting. The only better choice might have been John Glenn because he was an astronaut- which, let's be honest, is awesome- and a pivot to the right, which is apparently what the party needed given the future successes of DLC Democrats.
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junior chįmp
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« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2020, 10:13:17 PM »

No. 1984 wasn't winnable for any Dem under any circumstances. If one purely went of the economic growth numbers of the first quarter of 1984....you'd know any Dem was doomed regardless of whether or not even Jesus Christ himself was given the VP slot:

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Prof. Edward R. Tufte of Yale University, a political scientist who specializes in the relation between the business cycle and the electoral cycle, estimates that real disposable income will rise by 4.4 percent this year. That promises to be the second-strongest economic advance in personal income since World War II in any election year in which the incumbent President was seeking a second term.

The only President to face an election with stronger income growth going for him was Lyndon B. Johnson.

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/11/business/economic-scene-real-income-and-elections.html

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Mister Mets
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« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2020, 11:11:15 PM »

There are two ways of looking at this.

One is that this exemplified Democrats going with unqualified token picks, which hurt the party's reputation in later years.

Another is that it preceded women consistently voting heavily for the party.
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2020, 02:33:56 PM »

Yes.

Though it likely would've been the difference between winning 6 or 8 states and just 1 even if he tapped someone like John Glenn or Lloyd Bentsen.
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brucejoel99
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« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2020, 02:43:34 PM »

I read that one of Mondale's aides used a football analogy to explain Ferraro: they needed a pass. It was a desperation move. And IIRC, before they decided on a pass, Mondale's favorite was Michael Dukakis... fortunately, Willie Hurton didn't get his furlough until 1986.

Hart probably would've been the best running mate... assuming he could keep it in his pants, of course. With Hart, you have age, regional, & ideological balance, & he could flip CO & possibly NM, but that's a best-case scenario.
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TDAS04
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« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2020, 01:54:30 PM »

He might have done a little better with someone else, but he would have lost no matter what.  It depends on how you define "mistake".
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It’s so Joever
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« Reply #10 on: March 06, 2020, 09:20:30 AM »

He made a mistake running against Reagan in 1984.
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Interlocutor is just not there yet
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« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2020, 09:00:57 PM »

He made a mistake running against Reagan in 1984.

Any Democrat would've made a mistake running against Reagan in 1984
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Cyrusman
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« Reply #12 on: March 08, 2020, 03:17:00 AM »

No. 1984 wasn't winnable for any Dem under any circumstances. If one purely went of the economic growth numbers of the first quarter of 1984....you'd know any Dem was doomed regardless of whether or not even Jesus Christ himself was given the VP slot:

Quote
Prof. Edward R. Tufte of Yale University, a political scientist who specializes in the relation between the business cycle and the electoral cycle, estimates that real disposable income will rise by 4.4 percent this year. That promises to be the second-strongest economic advance in personal income since World War II in any election year in which the incumbent President was seeking a second term.

The only President to face an election with stronger income growth going for him was Lyndon B. Johnson.

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/11/business/economic-scene-real-income-and-elections.html


I wasn’t alive but why were they hopeless in 1984?
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