Primaries Past (1984): Reagan Cruises While Dems Fight

Every Tuesday from now until the Republican Primary on Jan. 21, Patch will look back at the primaries in South Carolina from 1980-2008, with an emphasis on the GOP. Every Republican winner in South Carolina earned the nomination, in electoral history. This is the second in the series. See Patch’s story on the 1980 campaign .

If there was such a thing as a traditional presidential campaign, then the 1984 race might have been it. The incumbent, President Ronald Reagan, was wildly popular and the Republican primaries were little more than a coronation tour for The Gipper. He cruised to the nomination, winning every state.

Things were a little more contentious on the Democratic side, even if earning the nomination meant only that the winner had the privilege of getting routed in the general election by the charismatic Reagan.

From the start, the frontrunner of a crowded Democratic field was Walter Mondale, who was Jimmy Carter’s vice president. Interestingly enough, two of the candidates pursuing the nomination were nicknamed “Fritz”—Mondale and former South Carolina Senator Ernest Hollings. But Hollings was not long for the race, bowing out after scoring only four percent of the vote in New Hampshire.

Mondale was an easy winner in the first primary in Iowa and appeared to have a smooth road to the nomination. But things turned in New Hampshire. Colorado Senator Gary Hart had put all his energy into the Granite State, having spent nearly a year campaigning there. It paid off with a victory over Mondale that stunned the political establishment.

Hart proved it was no fluke when he won five of the next seven states. And that’s when things got interesting. Greenville native Jesse Jackson became a factor in the race. Jackson had previously been known as a civil rights leader. His platform was considered well to the left of Mondale and Hart and he was thought to be a long shot at best. But then he won caucuses here in South Carolina and in Mississippi. However, Jackson was unable to capitalize on his momentum, dooming himself with “Hymie-town” comments that were perceived as insensitive to Jews in New York--a state he needed to win.

Around the time of Jackson’s victories, Mondale brought out his now-famous “Where’s the Beef” line, the borrowed Wendy’s slogan that he thought characterized Hart’s plans.

For a while, the possibility of a brokered convention seemed real. Mondale then won in Illinois. He added wins in the key states of New York and Pennsylvania, while Hart won in Wisconsin and Connecticut. As of May the race was still far from decided.  On May 8, Mondale and Hart split four more states, with Hart taking Ohio and Indiana and Mondale winning Maryland and North Carolina, all in tightly contested votes. Hart then won all three primaries on May 15. Finally, the race came down to June 5, when six primaries were held, with the two biggest being in California and New Jersey. Mondale lost California by four points, but handily won New Jersey, which was enough to satisfy the party leaders and he was eventually awarded the nomination. In all, Hart won 22 states, the most of any candidate to not receive the nomination (Hillary Clinton won 21).

After finalizing the nomination, Mondale made history on two fronts, one in a good way, the other, not so much. First, Mondale became the first major party candidate in the United States to select a female for vice-president when he chose New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. Unfortunately, for Mondale and Ferraro, they were on the wrong side of a record landslide. They won only Mondale’s native Minnesota and the District of Columbia. 

Postscript:

Reagan’s win in 1984 was a true landslide. Only two of the states he won were by a margin of less than five percent. But Reagan’s second term was plagued by scandal. Several of his staff resigned in disgrace and the time period will always be linked to the Iran-Contra Scandal where the United States traded arms for hostages.

After coming so close in 1984, Hart was the presumptive Democratic frontrunner in 1988. Until he was caught lying about an affair with Donna Rice, an Irmo High School graduate and University of South Carolina alum.

Hart dropped out of the race and then got back in, but his reputation had been forever tarnished. Hart’s foibles brought front and center the matter of a candidate’s personal life as an issue for voters to consider. That's where it has stayed.

Jesse Jackson ran for president again in 1988 and fared much better. He took nine states on the way to a second-place finish. At the 1988 Democratic Convention he gave what has become his best-known speech.

Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis won the nomination and was defeated in the third straight landslide victory for the Republicans, this time by George H.W. Bush.

Jackson has remained in the public eye, speaking about social justice and occasionally finding himself in controversy. He has ceded the limelight to other black leaders, settling into a role of elder statesman. Last month he turned 70. With the election of a black man to the presidency in 2008, Jackson's influence on the political landscape is secure.