freepcrusher
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« on: January 14, 2011, 08:23:14 PM » |
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November 6, 1974
Reagan denied third term in hostile political climate
Sacramento, CA - Ronald Reagan was unseated for a third term yesterday by the son of a man he defeated just eight years earlier - Jerry Brown. His defeat was one of many Republicans suffered last night as the Democrats picked up 49 house seats and 5 senate seats, which many see as a reaction to the Watergate Scandal, which ended in Richard Nixon's abdication just three months earlier.
Reagan faced uphill battle to begin with Reagan, 63, was unsure until early 1974 whether or not he wanted to run for a third term. He originally had intentions of running for the senate in hopes of unseating Alan Cranston. But when he was trailing in the primaries, he jumped ship to run for governor instead. "I was hoping on running for senator, but I was trailing [Alan] Cranston by 17 points in February and knew I would have an uphill battle. So instead I decided to run for an office, I would have a better chance of winning at" said Reagan.
Stepping Stone to Washington Brown, who at 36, will be the youngest governor of California, accused Reagan as using the governorship as a "stepping stone to Washington" and as someone insensitive to the problems in-state. This is a similar accusation his father, Pat, accused Richard Nixon of just twelve years earlier.
Real Life Hamlet Brown, who defeated Reagan by a 53-46 margin, said that his victory mirrors that of Hamlet. "Eight years earlier, my father was unfairly attacked by fear mongering and dog whistle rhetoric and I felt this as my role to avenge his defeat."
What Now? Brown, who will have a 55-25 Democratic Assembly and a 26-14 Democratic Senate, hopes he can get down to business when his term begins in January. "I hope that with the help of the democratic legislature, that we can clean up the mess we've been left and to get California working again."
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