1984 Primaries (The Hearse at Monticello)

The celebratory mood amongst American conservatives that followed Jack Kemp's landslide victory in the 1980 election was cut short when, on March 30, 1981, Kemp was shot dead by a deranged gunman in Washington D.C. Accordingly, the presidency was passed to newly-innaugurated Vice President Phillip Crane, whose rise to power marked the end of the shortest presidency in American history.

To the relief of the former president's supporters and the dismay of his opponents, Crane announced that he would seek to pass Kemp's 1980 platform into law, citing the "overwhelming mandate for a return to traditional American values." Supported by strong American Party majorities in Congress, Crane sought to dramatically trim federal spending, particularly on social welfare programs. Though an attempted repeal of the Abortion Legalization Act fell flat after Speaker of the House Betty Ford announced her opposition to the measure, Crane succeeded in easing regulations of the financial sector. On foreign policy, Crane has taken a much more aggressive attitude towards the Soviets, backing insurgents in Central America against the region's Communist regimes.

Yet despite Crane's best efforts to create a "business friendly, pro-growth economy", unemployment remains troublingly high, with roughly 7% of the country out of work as of January 1984, meaning that once again the incumbent president is seeking reelection against the backdrop of hard times. Having declared his intention to seek a full term in office, Crane faces former U.S. Ambassador Ben Fernandez in the American Party primary race. The first hispanic American to seek the presidency, Fernandez has criticized Crane's hawkish foreign policy and describes the administration's fiscal agenda as "Goldwater-esque", attempting to equate his candidacy to George Romney's 1968 "crusade against extremism". The Populist field, meanwhile, is a combination of old-school liberals and insurgent reformers, leading the media to term the race a "battle for the soul of the Populist Party". Among the candidates are former Secretary of State Birch Bayh, who gained fame for his work on the Abortion Legalization Act and who has criticized Crane's "shoot first" foreign policy; Colorado Senator Gary Hart, who argues that the Populists need to move towards the center in order to appeal to the national electorate; Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who wants to revive McGovern's war on poverty; and former California Governor Ronald Reagan, a one-time member of the American Party who has the backing of organized labor and who has been one of the loudest critics of Crane's economic program. Broadly speaking, all four candidates favor some sort of stimulus program to revive the economy, with Reagan and Lewis supporting the most expansive measures and Hart favoring a more measured approach.

Choose with care.

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