In 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale saw the crowds being drawn by Republican President Ronald Reagan and said, “When I see the energy in these crowds, the enthusiasm and the anger — the Reagan crowd is getting pretty cocky. They’d better watch out. The public is not going to be taken for granted.”
Walter Mondale, the former vice president for failed president Jimmy Carter, tried to make his case against Reagan who had turned the bad Carter/Mondale economy around, and the nation was feeling hopeful again.
But that didn’t keep Mondale from using the same old tired lines against a widely popular Reagan that have continued to be the same lines used to this day.
“I would rather lose a campaign about decency than win one about self-interest,” Mondale said, trying to paint Reagan as someone who was just out to promote himself.
The facts, of course, told a very different story which included Reagan tackling high inflation caused by Carter/Mondale, ending fuel price increases and shortages brought on by Carter/Mondale, ending a hostage situation with 50 Americans being held in Iran, and solving what Carter himself referred to as a “period of malaise” in America.
Those same accusations are still the base attacks made by Democrats against Donald Trump. Oh, they try to say, “It’s not all Republicans. Trump is different. He’s dangerous.”
But their history shows they use that same line of attack against any and all Republicans, including Reagan who won 49 states in 1984.
Not long before the election between Mondale and Reagan, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Washington Post endorsed Mondale.
The Washington Post said, “We think Mr. Mondale – who has been maddeningly misread and mistreated by the political trendmakers this year, just as Mr. Reagan has been maddeningly indulged and overpraised – is unambiguously the better candidate … (President Reagan) has been grossly indifferent to the requirements of racial equality and the needs of the poor.”
Yep, they played the race card and the economic warfare card at the same time despite the fact African Americans went from a per capita income of $4,804 per year ($15,350 today) in 1980 to $6,277 in 1984 ($15,900 today).
Reagan’s policies benefitted minorities in what was known as the “Rising Tide” where better policies were good for everyone.
But Mondale, the Democratic Party and the media, even in 1984, tried to make the case that Reagan was not a decent man, he only cared about the wealthy, and he was just out for himself.
Reagan won in a landslide, and life continued to improve under a second Reagan term.
Fast forward to 2024 where Vice President Kamala Harris is running against Donald Trump. After a failed four years where gas prices have increased, inflation is rampant and the Middle East is again in conflict with hostages at stake, Harris is trying to convince the American people that the last four years shouldn’t be compared to four years of Trump. She wants you to believe that Bidenomics is working, that she can solve the inflation problem she created, that she can deliver a message of peace to the Middle East despite the fact that the peace was broken during her administration’s leadership, and that she can secure the border despite the fact that her administration removed all the previous efforts to slow illegal immigration and allowed millions to enter illegally.
Like Mondale, Harris doesn’t want you to look at her record. Instead, she wants you to believe this is an election between decency and self interest, that Trump just wants to stroke his ego, much like Mondale said about Reagan.
But your Democratic friends will swear it’s only Trump. He is just so horrible he can’t be allowed back in the White House. Mondale said the same thing about Reagan who 40 years later is now considered one of the best presidents in history, respected and quoted by Republicans and Democrats.
These distractions and attacks on Trump are not new. He’s not the first, and he won’t be the last. Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and candidates Mitt Romney, John McCain and Bob Dole were also “the only” Republicans that simply cannot be allowed to become president, according to Democrats.
From Mondale to Harris, Democrats make the same old arguments, and Trump is simply the newest target.
But Reagan’s question in 1980 is just as important today, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
Carter couldn’t run from his record, Mondale couldn’t run from it, and Harris shouldn’t be able run from hers, either.
Earl Watt is the owner and publisher of the Leader & Times in Liberal, Kansas. Watt started his career in journalism in 1991 at the Southwest Daily Times. During his career, the newspaper has won a total of 17 Sweepstakes awards from the Kansas Press Association for editorial content and 18 Sweepstakes awards for advertising. Watt has been recognized with more than 70 first place awards for writing in categories from sports and column to best front pages, best sports pages and best opinion pages. Watt is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and is the descendant of several patriots who fought for America's freedom and independence.
