Presidential Election Paper

Presidential Election Paper

Introduction

The 1980 election now appears as watershed realignment, but at the time the outcome was close and almost uneventful. The results ran counter to one of the proverbs of national politics, that incumbents enjoy a decided advantage in American elections. In reality, the questionable nostrum of incumbent invulnerability was largely outdated in a television age, especially when the challenger, Ronald Reagan, was a charismatic actor. Jimmy Carter, in contrast, presented himself as a victim of events beyond his control, but on Election Day voters held him responsible for the condition of the country.

The dominant event of the election occurred on November 4, 1979, exactly one year before the vote, when a terrorist cell that supported the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and the ascension to power of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized 52 hostages in the American embassy in Tehran. No event in the election, with the possible exception of the economy, had more importance than the hostage crisis. Political opportunism ran in the face of patriotic responsibility, and eventually a candidate's stand on the crisis determined his success, or lack of same. In the first flush of rage after the seizure of the American embassy, a patriotic fervor washed over the country, and President Jimmy Carter enjoyed some much needed popularity. The effect did not last for long.

Four years earlier, Carter lost a sizable lead over Gerald Ford but came back to narrowly beat the incumbent president. The Carter administration promised a vigorous defense of its policies, and used an unabashed “Rose Garden” incumbent strategy when it came to his reelection campaign. Two Democrats opposed Carter in 1980. Ted Kennedy was the heir to a family legacy that stretched back 20 years and gripped the heartstrings of the American electorate like few politicians in the nation's history. The early polls showed him a favorite again, with 62 percent of Democrats supporting Kennedy compared to Carter's paltry 24 percent support. The other candidate was Jerry Brown, the governor of California, whose name suggested another West Coast family legacy. Against these two party rivals, Jimmy Carter played the powers of his office to perfection, skipping a scheduled debate in Iowa and using the White House news-making machine to dominate the daily agenda with the Iran crisis.

The hostage emergency frustrated Carter's Democratic opponents but was less of a hindrance to the Republicans. While there were several Republican candidates in 1980, the frontrunner was Ronald Reagan, whose good-natured aura and plain-spoken style hid a personal toughness and conservative convictions. He pressed Carter on the issue of American vulnerability in foreign affairs and economic weakness at home. George Herbert Walker Bush was a man of impressive origin, the scion of a wealthy eastern Republican family, a millionaire oilman who had been director of the Central Intelligence Agency, ambassador to the United Nations, and special envoy to China. The third major candidate in the race was John Bowden Connally, a former governor of Texas and secretary of the Treasury and navy, ...