All Hail the Glorious People's Revolution in Vietnam!

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
No, in this case he's sort-of right.

I was responding to Ned overall, not that specific post.

[Agathon]

You did notice his winning margin in the 1984 election, right? Mondale won 1 (or 2) state, IIRC.

A couple of years after that he wasn't such a popular man. These things take time.

Anyway, you weren't even born at the time.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

as did the unpopularity of his previous militarism.

You did notice his winning margin in the 1984 election, right? Mondale won 1 (or 2) state, IIRC.

A dead dog could have beaten Mondale. The man looked like he was made of plastic. I knew at the Democratic convention we Republicans were going to clobber him. Plus his talk of raising taxes, as correct as he might have been, was suicidal at a time when the population felt very economically insecure.

[Agathon]

Actually I was alive during both eras, and the way people felt in 1983 was nothing compared to the panic during the Cuban Missle Crisis. I remember having daily air raid drills, and having to take papers telling the school what to do with me in the event of an attack to my parents for them to fill out. My 5th grade teacher had a nervous breakdown.

I said this in an earlier post.

The early to mid eighties were a frightening time. Relations between the US and USSR were terrible and both sides were posturing. The anti-nuclear movement got its biggest shot in the arm since 1961 and there were huge rallies and everyone was talking about it.

Paranoia was in the air. You only have to look at the movies that were being made at the time. Nuclear holocaust, accidental launches, etc.

Gorbachev wanted to reform the Soviet system, and like (eventually) Reagan, he realized that an antagonistic stance was dangerous for everyone. Neither Reagan or Gorbachev foresaw the fall of the USSR. Almost nobody did.

The "Reagan ended the Cold War" crap is believed by a section of Americans because it suits them – it has no real foundation. A quick examination of the problems with the Soviet Union show that they went back for years.

Another case of Americans making so much noise about themselves that they can't hear the truth.

[Jaguar]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


A dead dog could have beaten Mondale. The man looked like he was made of plastic. I knew at the Democratic convention we Republicans were going to clobber him. Plus his talk of raising taxes, as correct as he might have been, was suicidal at a time when the population felt very economically insecure.

He had a similar margin vs Carter. And his VP won with a similar margin against Dukakis. Yes, they were three weak Dem candidates, but the Reagan administration carried 40+ states for three straight elections. They outscored the Dems in the EC 1440 to 173.

Reagan has NEVER been unpopular.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
What a witty and inciteful comment.

As opposed to your great wit and spelling

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Jaguar
He had a similar margin vs Carter. And his VP won with a similar margin against Dukakis. Yes, they were three weak Dem candidates, but the Reagan administration carried 40+ states for three straight elections. They outscored the Dems in the EC 1440 to 173.

Carter was hamstrung by oil prices and the Iranians. Mondale and Dukakis were both bad candidates. Clinton won on a fluke, and then had a weak opponent. Gore was just awful, and Kerry tried to outdo him. The last time the Dems ran a popular candidate was before Bobby Kennedy was killed.

The big problem for the Dems is that never never try to stand on who they actually are, but always try to be something else, and thus let the GOP define them. If it hadn't been for Perot, we'd probably have whoever President Quayle's VP was as Prez now.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
As opposed to your great wit and spelling

The misspelling was intentional.

[Kuciwalker]

Then it's doubly stupid.

[chequita guevara]

Lame, maybe, but not stupid.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Jaguar
He had a similar margin vs Carter. And his VP won with a similar margin against Dukakis. Yes, they were three weak Dem candidates, but the Reagan administration carried 40+ states for three straight elections. They outscored the Dems in the EC 1440 to 173.

Reagan has NEVER been unpopular.

Bingo... for all Agathon's crowing that Reagan was unpopular because of his militarism, it ain't true. If Reagan was unpopular it was during the '82-'83 recession, when the Fed was clamping down on the super high inflation from the 70s. After that Ronnie was loved and had high approval ratings throughout (with a slight dip because of Iran-Contra, but nothing that bad... there was a reason he was nicknamed the "Teflon President").

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Bingo... for all Agathon's crowing that Reagan was unpopular because of his militarism, it ain't true.

He probably meant outside the U.S.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
He probably meant outside the U.S.

Perhaps, but when was the last time American Presidents cared about how they were viewed outside the US?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
He probably meant outside the U.S.

Why the heck would that have anything to do with elections in the US?

[Agathon]

Perhaps, but when was the last time American Presidents cared about how they were viewed outside the US?

All the time. In fact all of you are constantly worried about it. You're like Paris Hilton.