Remembering the Presidential Race of 1984

The recent death of former South Carolina Senator Ernest Hollings took me back to the 1984 Democratic Primary for President.

Hollings was a candidate that year (in the early contests at least) as part of a process that would lead to one of the most lopsided general election defeats for president for Democrats.

With a Republican incumbent in the White House there were several Democrats who wanted the chance to unseat him. It would prove more difficult than any of them would have ever imagined.

Former vice president Walter Mondale, Colorado senator Gary Hart, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Ohio senator John Glenn, former South Dakota senator (and 1972 nominee) George McGovern, former Florida governor Reubin Askew and senator Alan Cranston of California joined Hollings in the primary.

Cranston had an amusing commercial that year taking a poke at Glenn and his “blasting off” into space. It’s on Youtube and worth a look.

Mondale was considered the early favorite and won the Iowa caucus. However, Hart had worked to build a strong camp in New Hampshire which was the state with the first primary.

Unknown nationally when the campaign started, Hart took the win in the Live Free or Die state with more than 37 percent of the vote. Hart then won contests in Vermont and Wyoming and finished essentially tie for second in Alabama.

Hart actually won more states that year than Mondale who eventually took the nomination. Jackson would win two states but his overall 18 percent of the vote that year was the strongest ever for an African-American candidate nationally. Jackson received more than three million votes as he and Hart would both be back four years later.

Mondale ran a poor general election campaign and as a result was trounced by popular Ronald Reagan.

Hollings meanwhile did not do well in the Iowa and New Hampshire contests effectively ending his campaign. The same was true for Cranston and Askew as all faced long odds to begin.

Glenn’s best showing was 20 percent in the Alabama primary. McGovern, still holding the stigma of the 1972 thrashing, finished third in the Iowa caucus and third in Massachusetts but Democratic voters, while probably liking McGovern’s stances, could not get the memory of 12 years earlier out of their minds.

It was the end of McGovern’s political career nationally as he gave a rather sad speech at the convention that year saying “at least we tried” when talking about his 1984 campaign.

Hart emerged as the front-runner for 1988 and was perhaps on his way to being the nominee before his infamous cheating scandal emerged.

Reagan went on to be one of the more popular presidents in the country’s history. In fact, he is as much a part of 1980s culture as the Rubix Cube or Pac Man.

Early advantage: A Monmouth poll shows Joseph Biden leading in Iowa for the Democrats. Biden polled 27 percent although he remains an undeclared candidate. Bernie Sanders was second with 16 percent while Pete Buttigieg is at nine percent. Buttigieg, who just a few weeks ago was unknown nationally, has soared the polls among the very crowded Democratic field.

Others included Elizabeth Warren (7), Kamala Harris (7), Beto O’Rourke (6), Amy Klobuchar (4), Corey Booker (3) and Julian Castro (2).

Political quote of the week: “We don’t have to agree with someone politically to love them in a larger, more universal sense. That’s the essence of nonviolence, and if we don’t seek to practice it within ourselves then there will be no hope for the future. Let’s seek to love even those with whom we disagree.”

These words come from Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson. The words are sound advice for all of us regardless of our political leanings.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He has earned awards for his columns from the National Newspaper Association, the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Sports Writers Association. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.