RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Important election in that it changed the face of electoral politics in several ways. As a campaign, it was a mismatch. Democratic infighting and a president seen as borderline incompetent by many was not helped by a level of campaign organization that could have been equalled by a colony of cherrystone clams. The GOP campaign, on the other hand, while not flawless, was competent, and positioned Reagan shrewdly in counterpoint to Carter.

That was a default contest when you look back on it, wasn't it?

While I think several Republicans would have defeated Carter in 1980, Reagan was the best choice to renew the old Eisenhower coalition. The big issues, as in 1952, were foreign policy disasters, which revealed confusion and weakness in the administration, and spiraling inflation. The big differences were that the economy was in much worse shape than in 1952, and Reagan had to overcome doubts about his ability to handle foreign policy. He got over the latter by his own genial image and with the help of the respected Republican foreign-policy establishment (Kissinger was a key spokesman for Reagan throughout the fall). With the focus on the economy and with runaway inflation shoving ordinary folks into higher tax brakets, he won easily.

I had to miss seeing most of the returns because my wife & I were at a childbirth class. Then, when I tried to rush home so I could see who was winning, she insisted that we stop and buy milk at the grocery store (sheesh!). Anyway, the Press was obviously hoping Carter would win, and that morning after I voted, they were already announcing on the radio that a heavy turnout in the Philadelphia area made it look like Carter would win this too close to call election. My heart sank when I heard that. I drove over to get my driver's license renewed, and that picture on the license clearly shows the worry on my face. Anyway, when I finally got home that night (with the milk!) and saw state after state going for Reagan, I was ecstatic! It was a great moment in America, and I felt better about our country during the next 8 years that he led us.

A true turning point as abichara1882 eloquently states. As an aside, I recently put up bumper sticker (that I got off eBay) on my car memorializing the election that truly began the revival of conservative ideas in America REAGAN FOR GOVERNOR 1966.

Most people say that all presidential campaigns leave much to be desired, but I like the strategy that goes into it. Every four years, a new combination of distinctive issues arise that create the presidential campaign. Some of these elections have signaled the beginnings of new political movements. The year 1980, I would say was a pivotal year for the establishment of the modern Republican Party, which became decidedly more conservative. In the past, the Republican party was much more liberal, but the conservatives won out with Reagan that year. 1980 was an interesting year for the sake that many pivotal events were occuring at the time; Iran Contra, the Soviet invasion of the Afghanistan, and economic instability at home. In short, the Carter adminstration was a sinking ship between 1979-1980. Everything that could go wrong for the incumbent president went wrong that election year. To top it off, Carter faced Ted Kennedy in a late primary challenge that divided the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the Republicans decided to make a clean break with the past and nominated Ronald Reagan, a non-conventional politician, for President. Everyone thought he was a lightweight, including President Carter, but he found a very strong opponent in him. Reagan was very popular with Democrats (he carried 35% of Democratic votes that year), Independents, and obviously Republicans. People wanted to get over the malaise of the 1970's. The contrast between Reagan and Carter was very clear. Carter said that we would have to live with less and to expect that the US would not be a dominant power in the near future. Reagan's contrasting message was simple and positive. America COULD do better and we don't have to live with less. Reagan was positive and Carter was negative. What really sealed the deal was the Reagan-Carter debates. Carter acted defensive and mean spirited while Reagan was cool, calm, and relaxed. Whenever Carter accused him of being an extremist, Reagan said there you go again lightheartedly. At the end of the debate came the knockout punch. Reagan asked the American people are you better than you were four years ago? That sealed the deal for Reagan. Before, people were apprehensive about having an actor in the White House, but people were eager to make a clean break with the negativism of the Carter Administration. Reagan won by 10 percentage points and carried 489 electoral votes, a landslide and deservedly so; the Carter administration simply wasn't performing and they didn't deserve an extra four years. At the end of the day, Reagan did live up to his promise; the 1990's was a decade of unparalleled prosperity because of Reagan's tax reforms and because of the defeat of communism in the Soviet Union, which would have happened anyways, but Reagan sped up the process by putting pressure on the Soviets to spend more on defense than they could afford. He was a man of vision who thought that America could perform better than the sum of all of its collective interests.