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Who remembers when Ronald Reagan won 49 states (all except Minnesota, Mondale’s Home State) in 1984 against Walter Mondale? Many of those states are now solidly Democratic, and have been for a long time. How did he do it?
It was a combination of factors. First of all, President Regan was a very popular president. The economy (which had been in shambles) was recovering, taxes were lowered, he started making headway with the Soviet Union (fighting it) and he was very positive and united American's as one people (he appealed to many Democrats as well as Independent voters and Republicans). At that point, there was no Iran Contra scandal too. Mondale promised to raise taxes (which killed his chances) and his running mate was not very seasoned as a politician (she didn't have much experience).
Let's not forget this was also a time when the Democrats and Republicans actually worked together too instead acting like they are high school rival teams. There were conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans and a whole lot more swing/independent voters.
Definitely a completely different United States. Reagan did better in New Jersey than he did in Iowa; better in New Hampshire than North Dakota; better in Maine than in Arkansas. Reagan got 55.10% of the vote in Hawaii; he got 55.11% of the vote in West Virginia. It was this perfect moment for him where the mindsets of the states were changing and on election day they aligned perfectly for him (obviously he was also a good candidate with a great message for the times going up against a bad candidate and the economy was humming).
Like a pitcher in baseball being able to win 30 games in a season in the past, that era is 100% over - - you'll never see 1984 again in terms of elections.
Who remembers when Ronald Reagan won 49 states (all except Minnesota, Mondale’s Home State) in 1984 against Walter Mondale? Many of those states are now solidly Democratic, and have been for a long time. How did he do it?
Nobody wanted to relive the Carter years, which were disasterous. Inflation and interest rates approached 20%, the economy was terrible, and there was a general sense of despair among Americans about the future of the country. Reagan changed all that.
I was pretty young then, but it seems we were a much more moderate country, politically speaking. People would still vote based on policy, not party, skin color, or gender.
He won 49 states because:
1) he was very popular
2) Walter Mondale was his opponent
Even though I find his policies a mixed bag, Reagan had charisma, positivity, and the ability to take responsibility. People were willing to take the fall for him on the Iran contra deal, but Reagan stepped up and took the blame in a televised speech. I can't even begin to imagine a president doing that now.
Everyone says it was because of the hostage crisis, failed rescue mission, cold war etc. You can replicate all those conditions today and you will still have California and New York vote Democrat. People vote their party color. Period. How can 90% of the Democrats and 90% of the Republicans be on the opposite side of every issue? Take this border. You need a barrier to slow people down so the law enforcement has time to act. It's so trivial but if Trump says it they have to twist themselves into a pretzel to oppose it.
Everyone says it was because of the hostage crisis, failed rescue mission, cold war etc. You can replicate all those conditions today and you will still have California and New York vote Democrat. People vote their party color. Period. How can 90% of the Democrats and 90% of the Republicans be on the opposite side of every issue? Take this border. You need a barrier to slow people down so the law enforcement has time to act. It's so trivial but if Trump says it they have to twist themselves into a pretzel to oppose it.
The hostage crisis and failed rescue mission affected the 1980 election.
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