Anyone here old enough to remember the 1984 presidential election?

[SingingAnalyst]

Yes. Though I am from Macomb, MI (capital of the Reagan Dems where Reagan would win 66.2%, the best showing in Macomb for a Republican since the 1920s), I was a student in Cambridge, MA, which would vote 76.2% Mondale, the 3rd highest percentage in Cambridge for a Dem ever. I remember the vibe among my new compatriates that we were on the verge of nuclear war if Reagan were re-elected, and that it was almost inhuman not to vote Mondale. In the end I voted Reagan, but could easily have gone the other way (I did however vote Dem for Senate, thus splitting my ticket). I recall being surprised at the size of Reagan's win, not surprising considering where I was living at the time.

[SingingAnalyst]

I was 13 that year. In my home state, Michigan, it was the last year on record Detroit Tigers won the World Series following a 35-and-5 record of their first 40 games of that MLB season. That seemed to overshadow the 1984 United States presidential election in my area of the country. My memory of the 1984 presidential election was no one was betting on Walter Mondale to unseat Ronald Reagan because not many seemed overly interested in who the Democrats would nominate in the first place.

That was more to be remembered -- maybe the best team to have ever won a World Series that did not have a future Baseball Hall of Fame (Alan Trammell belongs in the Hall of Fame even if he was the fourth-best shortstop of his time; the others were Cal Ripken, Ozzie Smith, and Robin Yount. The 1980s had some great middle-infielders. Lou Whitaker was unpopular among baseball writers because he 'failed' to salute the American flag. He was a Jehovah's Witness, and Jehovah's Witnesses consider any salute to a flag an act of idolatry. I may think a salute to the US flag harmless, but following one's religious convictions is honorable in contrast to betting on baseball games, throwing games, or using performance-enhancing drugs to extend a career.

But I digress.     

I agree and think the World Series euphoria may have contributed to Reagan's huge win in the state especially in metro Detroit.

[SingingAnalyst]

askew was pro life.  pro lifers dont do well in democrat primaries.

Zing!   

Okay thanks for all your input.  I didn't realize Askew was not as progressive as I had thought.   Being anti-choice would have been a disqualifier for me, too.   

I remember that. It was reported that he was anti-abortion but supported the ERA, which I found interesting.

[SingingAnalyst]

I was 13 that year. In my home state, Michigan, it was the last year on record Detroit Tigers won the World Series following a 35-and-5 record of their first 40 games of that MLB season. That seemed to overshadow the 1984 United States presidential election in my area of the country. My memory of the 1984 presidential election was no one was betting on Walter Mondale to unseat Ronald Reagan because not many seemed overly interested in who the Democrats would nominate in the first place.

That was more to be remembered -- maybe the best team to have ever won a World Series that did not have a future Baseball Hall of Fame (Alan Trammell belongs in the Hall of Fame even if he was the fourth-best shortstop of his time; the others were Cal Ripken, Ozzie Smith, and Robin Yount. The 1980s had some great middle-infielders. Lou Whitaker was unpopular among baseball writers because he 'failed' to salute the American flag. He was a Jehovah's Witness, and Jehovah's Witnesses consider any salute to a flag an act of idolatry. I may think a salute to the US flag harmless, but following one's religious convictions is honorable in contrast to betting on baseball games, throwing games, or using performance-enhancing drugs to extend a career.

But I digress.     

I agree and think the World Series euphoria may have contributed to Reagan's huge win in the state especially in metro Detroit.

The Republicans carried Michigan very close to their national numbers in 1984 and 1988. And when Bill Clinton won a Democratic pickup of Michigan, while he unseated George Bush in Election 1992, the state still came close to the national margin. That period of three election cycles gave Michigan its overrated "swing state" status that still tends to get mentioned among Corporate News Media. In truth, Michigan has never notched beyond six cycles in consecutively backing presidential winners. (And those six were with the winning Republicans from 1860 to 1880.) A 1984 Michigan was more about Detroit Tigers than that year's presidential election.

Honorable mention: MI voted with the PV winner 1980-2000. While the mood in MI was euphoria, the mood in Cambridge, MA (where I was a student) was sheer despair about the possibility of a Reagan win.