walter mondale and the 'rust belt'

[WalterMitty]

how come mondale couldnt carry any of the rust belt states?

manufacturing was in a full decline in the 1980s.  mondale was the dream candidate for labor.  how come he wasnt more successful in those states?

[Dr. Cynic]

Because he was a poor candidate. It's really that simple.

[WalterMitty]

Because he was a poor candidate. It's really that simple.

perhaps the better question would be-why was reagan so popular in the rust belt...when the area was bleeding jobs.

[Gabu]

From what I know about the 1984 election... "it was not the economy, stupid".

[Dr. Cynic]

That's a good question... Still Reagan had charisma and said what people wanted to hear... In Pennsylvania, he lost both most populous areas but still won the state both times. He lost heavily here in Pittsburgh because this place was losing the steel industry. So it maybe came down to his appeal with the rural voters of rust belt states.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Mondale did well in the labor areas of Minnesota while he did relatively poorly in the farming areas.

In fact, the farming regions of southwest and northwest Minnesota broke their tradition and went Republican in 1976, 1980, and 1984.  They didn't like Carter, and they loved Reagan.  They voted heavily for Dukakis in '88 and for Clinton in '92 and '96, voted for Bush over Gore and then Kerry made some headway against Bush in '04.

I remember in the movie North Country the supervisor makes a comment that says "Look, this country has elected a president that is exporting jobs overseas."  Referring to Bush Sr. at that time and also the Iron Range's hatred of Reagan.

[Huckleberry Finn]

There was a lot of Eastern Europeans in those states who liked Reagen's foreign politics. That's one reason.

[bullmoose88]

That's a good question... Still Reagan had charisma and said what people wanted to hear... In Pennsylvania, he lost both most populous areas but still won the state both times. He lost heavily here in Pittsburgh because this place was losing the steel industry. So it maybe came down to his appeal with the rural voters of rust belt states.

Reagan won, quite soundly, the Southeastern PA suburbs...which are the key to the state.

[WalterMitty]

That's a good question... Still Reagan had charisma and said what people wanted to hear... In Pennsylvania, he lost both most populous areas but still won the state both times. He lost heavily here in Pittsburgh because this place was losing the steel industry. So it maybe came down to his appeal with the rural voters of rust belt states.

Reagan won, quite soundly, the Southeastern PA suburbs...which are the key to the state.

yet george bush is 'too conservative' for them

[Ban my account ffs!]

It was the Norwegians and eastern Europeans (Finnish, Polish, Croatian, Czech, etc.) that voted for Mondale in Minnesota while the German areas went strongly for Reagan.

[Alcon]

That's a good question... Still Reagan had charisma and said what people wanted to hear... In Pennsylvania, he lost both most populous areas but still won the state both times. He lost heavily here in Pittsburgh because this place was losing the steel industry. So it maybe came down to his appeal with the rural voters of rust belt states.

Reagan won, quite soundly, the Southeastern PA suburbs...which are the key to the state.

yet george bush is 'too conservative' for them

Do you think Reagan won the area because of his politics?

[WalterMitty]

That's a good question... Still Reagan had charisma and said what people wanted to hear... In Pennsylvania, he lost both most populous areas but still won the state both times. He lost heavily here in Pittsburgh because this place was losing the steel industry. So it maybe came down to his appeal with the rural voters of rust belt states.

Reagan won, quite soundly, the Southeastern PA suburbs...which are the key to the state.

yet george bush is 'too conservative' for them

Do you think Reagan won the area because of his politics?

i would hope not.

im probably the only republican in the country that doesnt have a high opinion of reagan.

[Dr. Cynic]

That's a good question... Still Reagan had charisma and said what people wanted to hear... In Pennsylvania, he lost both most populous areas but still won the state both times. He lost heavily here in Pittsburgh because this place was losing the steel industry. So it maybe came down to his appeal with the rural voters of rust belt states.

Reagan won, quite soundly, the Southeastern PA suburbs...which are the key to the state.

yet george bush is 'too conservative' for them

Do you think Reagan won the area because of his politics?

i would hope not.

im probably the only republican in the country that doesnt have a high opinion of reagan.

I actually doubt it was his politics... It comes down to CHARISMA!!! CHARISMA!!! CHARISMA!!!!

[Reignman]

If Mondale won every state that Reagan won from 1984 with less than 60% of the vote, he'd have 284 electoral votes and have won the 'rust belt.' In other words, he did better there than other places.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Reagan was better at telling jokes for one thing. And we know all that important that is in deciding who should be in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal.

[JSojourner]

Likeability is truly a political asset.  Everyone liked Ronald Reagan, personally.  Sam Donaldson and Helen Thompson -- those crusty, never-say-die, "old school" reporters would question and perplex and frustrate him.  And he would frustrate them.  But they have both said how fond they were of him.  Diane Sawyer once said of him that he never seemed particularly intelligent or even interested in running the country.  But he was ALWAYS interested in her...in her family...in how she was doing.  She loved him for that.

Tip O'Neill hated Reagan's politics but loved the man. He said that Reagan would gut every program that existed to help poor people.  Then turn around and write a generous check to the Red Cross or some other helping agency.  He cared.  He just sincerely thought government had no responsibility to the poor.

Mikhail Gorbachev liked him almost instantly.  He admits he underestimated him.  And in spite of their adversarial relationship, Gorby says he considered him a dear friend. Because of this alone, I am glad I voted for Reagan in 1984.  I was a bigtime conservative then.  Not now.  But even looking back, his congeniality and charm -- as much as his firm resolve -- did much to end the Cold War and bring down Communism as we knew it.

I don't mean to suggest that being a nice guy is the key to success as President.  If that were the case, Jimmy Carter would have won in a landslide.  But finding that combination of winsome warmth, personal charm and sincere concern for the individuals you meet never hurts. 

[SingingAnalyst]

Mondale did relatively well as far as I can tell in western PA (Pittsburgh) as well as eastern OH (Cleveland, Youngstown). What hurt him was Reagan's anti-Soviet posture: an event as far away as the murder of Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko, just 18 days before the election, may have cemented Polish (and Italian, Slavic, etc.) support for Reagan in MI, OH, IL.