An air of fierce anti-incumbent sentiment surrounds the 1984 election.
Maverick governor Pete du Pont defeated the sitting vice president and favourite for the Republican nomination, Howard Baker, in a series of stunning primary upsets. Baker left the race shortly thereafter, announcing his intention to return to the Senate. Televangelist Pat Robertson carried Alaska and Utah before dropping out and endorsing du Pont.
On the Democratic side, party stalwarts have had their hopes quashed by the remarkable grassroots campaign of Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jackson's unrepentantly left-wing campaign swept him into the convention as the victor. A sizeable contingent of Democrats staged a public walk-out upon hearing Jackson's acceptance speech. Democratic officials across the nation are preparing for the worst.
du Pont '88: ‘It’s time to think about tomorrow...’
Pete du Pont is running further to the right than any presidential nominee since Goldwater. He supports the creation of a voluntary alternative to Social Security, comprehensive welfare reform, the abolition of farm subsidies, supply-side economics, and a balanced budget amendment.
Jesse Jackson: ‘He’s spent his life fighting America’s wrongs... He knows how to make America right.’
Neither of the major parties has ever nominated a candidate like
Jesse Jackson. Jackson has pledged, if elected, to create massive public works projects to employ all Americans, to end the war on drugs, to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, to institute a single-payer healthcare system, to reverse President Ford's tax cuts, to begin immediate nuclear disarmament, and to levy severe sanctions against Israel and South Africa.
Bentsen '84: He doesn't fit labels. But, then, neither do the problems.
Finally, Senator
Lloyd Bentsen of Texas has declared an independent run on a 'National Democratic' ticket in order to save the Democratic party from its radical nominee. Bentsen is pro-choice, supports the ERE and federal environmental regulation, but also supports the Ford tax cuts, strengthening the national defence, and capital punishment.
Two days.
Poll
