1976: Ronald Regan vs. Jimmy Carter

[Bo]

Reagan would have lost that election handily to Carter.

They thought that in 1980 too.

1980 was a different political environment than 1976.

LOL well Carter had like an 8 point lead going down the stretch with 30% approval ratings and then he agreed to a debate a week before the election and Reagan said are you better off than you were 4 years ago, and Carters cheif strategist said that weekend it all crashed his internal polls went from being up by 5 points to down by 6. Bottom line Carter doesnt have that debate hes reelected and we never hear of the Bush's and the so called moral majority again. And  we have a huge surplus and a balanced budged and no illegal wars.

My point is still valid. In 1976, people were angry at the GOP for Watergate and the poor economy, and in addition to that many people thought Reagan was an extremist and din't know about Carter's incompetence. Thus, Carter would beat Reagan by a relatively comfortable margin in 1976. In 1980, people were angry at Carter and the Democrats for the poor economy and the hostage crisis. Thus, despite many people still thinking that Ragan was an extremist, Reagan was elected because many people were tired of Carter's incompetence. I'm not sure Carter would have been reelected without that debate, since he might have made a mistake somehwere else before the elction and cost himself some support. And if Reagan would have lost in 1980, that would automatically make Bush Sr. the frontrunner for the 1984 or 1988 GOP nomination since he was the runner-up in 1980 and GOP voters are very friendly to runner-ups. So we might have still heard of the Bushes. And the Moral Majority might have still occured, since we would ahve had a GOP President eventually and he would ahve wanted to appease the religious right. Carter never had a balanced budget or a surplus, so I seriously doubt he would have had one in his second term if he would have been reelected. As for the wars, it would have depended on which politicans became President after Carter.

[Derek]

Reagan would have lost that election handily to Carter.

They thought that in 1980 too.

1980 was a different political environment than 1976.

LOL well Carter had like an 8 point lead going down the stretch with 30% approval ratings and then he agreed to a debate a week before the election and Reagan said are you better off than you were 4 years ago, and Carters cheif strategist said that weekend it all crashed his internal polls went from being up by 5 points to down by 6. Bottom line Carter doesnt have that debate hes reelected and we never hear of the Bush's and the so called moral majority again. And  we have a huge surplus and a balanced budged and no illegal wars.

I knew you'd figure a way to bash Bush in this. Didn't Carter lose by 11?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Carter would win easily. No matter how charismatic he was, Reagan was seen as an extremist, and could gain enough support in traditionally liberal States of New england and West Coast that made Ford competitive.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Reagan would have lost that election handily to Carter.

They thought that in 1980 too.

1980 was a different political environment than 1976.

LOL well Carter had like an 8 point lead going down the stretch with 30% approval ratings and then he agreed to a debate a week before the election and Reagan said are you better off than you were 4 years ago, and Carters cheif strategist said that weekend it all crashed his internal polls went from being up by 5 points to down by 6. Bottom line Carter doesnt have that debate hes reelected and we never hear of the Bush's and the so called moral majority again. And  we have a huge surplus and a balanced budged and no illegal wars.

So that one sentence doomed America to suffer forever under Reagan/Bush/Obama policies?

[Bo]

Reagan would have lost that election handily to Carter.

They thought that in 1980 too.

1980 was a different political environment than 1976.

LOL well Carter had like an 8 point lead going down the stretch with 30% approval ratings and then he agreed to a debate a week before the election and Reagan said are you better off than you were 4 years ago, and Carters cheif strategist said that weekend it all crashed his internal polls went from being up by 5 points to down by 6. Bottom line Carter doesnt have that debate hes reelected and we never hear of the Bush's and the so called moral majority again. And  we have a huge surplus and a balanced budged and no illegal wars.

I knew you'd figure a way to bash Bush in this. Didn't Carter lose by 11?

No, Carter lost by 9.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Reagan would have lost that election handily to Carter.

They thought that in 1980 too.

1980 was a different political environment than 1976.

LOL well Carter had like an 8 point lead going down the stretch with 30% approval ratings and then he agreed to a debate a week before the election and Reagan said are you better off than you were 4 years ago, and Carters cheif strategist said that weekend it all crashed his internal polls went from being up by 5 points to down by 6. Bottom line Carter doesnt have that debate hes reelected and we never hear of the Bush's and the so called moral majority again. And  we have a huge surplus and a balanced budged and no illegal wars.

I knew you'd figure a way to bash Bush in this. Didn't Carter lose by 11?

No, Carter lost by 9.

9.74% rounds to 10.

[Bo]

Reagan would have lost that election handily to Carter.

They thought that in 1980 too.

1980 was a different political environment than 1976.

LOL well Carter had like an 8 point lead going down the stretch with 30% approval ratings and then he agreed to a debate a week before the election and Reagan said are you better off than you were 4 years ago, and Carters cheif strategist said that weekend it all crashed his internal polls went from being up by 5 points to down by 6. Bottom line Carter doesnt have that debate hes reelected and we never hear of the Bush's and the so called moral majority again. And  we have a huge surplus and a balanced budged and no illegal wars.

I knew you'd figure a way to bash Bush in this. Didn't Carter lose by 11?

No, Carter lost by 9.

9.74% rounds to 10.

You're right. But I was approximating.

[Derek]

Ok I was thinking Reagan had 52 and he had 51. ok