Imagine If There Was A DU In 1980

How we would be tearing each other apart over Kennedy and Carter...

For the record my mom caucused for Ted and I worked on his campaign as well...

It's also interesting that a lot of Dems at the time felt Jimmy Carter wasn't liberal enough... It was said he was the most conservative Democratic president since Grover Cleveland... That's why liberals like Pat Moynihan, Mario Cuomo, and Birch Bayh "recruited" Ted Kennedy to run, and against an incumbent president of his own party, nonetheless...

It's amazing how perceptions change with the passage of time...

for helping the legislation enabling the Internet much, much, sooner.

eom

And my mother, not being very much for technology or politics, would not have been posting on here.

I don't know about my father. He died in 1987 and I didn't really get a chance to learn all his quirks and preferences and political leanings. He definitely contributed most of my dominant genes, though, so he might have been on here. Probably not, though - he was even more introverted than I am. Rather like my husband that way, actually.

or were too young to know how conservative he was as president.

eom

he held a rally to support Lt. Calley.

When he re-instituted registration for the draft, I was furious. Part of his problem was that the Washington Establishment hated him as an upstart. Who else remembers how his staff was stalked by the press? Was it Lee Jordan who supposedly committed gaffes in bars and a reception for th Egyptian ambassador? When Jimmy did something right, like telling people to turn down their thermostat and wear a sweater, the press made a mockery of him. I think Jimmy also tried to institute casual office clothing such as no ties in the summer. My father really liked that part! Of course, when Reagan came in, everyone made a big deal of dressing"like grown-ups" and banning blue jean from the West Wing. In the end, I think Jimmy was done in because he took too much advice from people who would now be part of the DLC, Mondale chief among them. If Jimmy had stuck to his instincts instead of taking advice from the pros, I think he would have done OK.

Lt Governor Cuomo playing any role in getting Kennedy to run. I do not think he was considered a national player at that time. Three years later, when he became governor, he was on the big stage.

n/t

And his presidential opportunity died at Chappaquidick...

not too popular with many Dems, if I recall.

Carter won by sweeping the south and some N.E. and midwest states...

The same south that went solidly for him in 76 went solidly against him in 80 except for his home state of GA...