Thursday, February 7, 2008

Another Lesson from the Past

In 1980 in the Democratic Party primary and caucus season , we had a very bitter fight between incumbent president Jimmy Carter and Senator Edward Kennedy for the nomination. Carter being an incumbent had strong wide support and Kennedy had vast support because of his name and strong support from some very powerful unions both of them had their strength and weaknesses.

As I remember Kennedy had victories in primaries in New York, Michigan, PA, Cal, Mass. and Rhode Island and many other states. While at the same time Carter was winning more states but the smaller states in the south and mid- west. Kennedy went into the convention with over one thousand delegates. Carter had several hundred delegates more and received the Nomination in a bitterly divided convention. In November Carter lost big to Reagan.

In 1984 Mondale had a similar battle with Gary Hart for the nomination If I remember Hart won primaries and caucuses in 25 different States. Once again HART HAD WELL OVER THOUSAND delegates. Once again the Party was divided and Reagan won his second term.

Now, does any of this sound familiar this year?

It might be a wise move, on the Democrat's part to pick a unifying candidate. John Edwards would be a wise choice. But no one ever has accused the Democrats of being wise in selecting their nominee.

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