Sabatos Crystal Ball

1984 Presidential Election

UVA Center for Politics January 1st, 2008


President Reagan faced hardly any opposition to his re-nomination as the Republican bid for President. On the Democratic side, however, there were many new faces competing for the nomination. Sen. Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter’s Vice President, was the front runner throughout the election campaign. The most serious opposition were both Senator Gary Hart of Colorado, running on a theme of “New Ideas,” and Reverend Jesse Jackson, who became the first substantial black candidate for president. However, Mondale gained the nomination and selected Geraldine Ferraro to be his running mate. Ferraro became the first woman to be nominated by a major party.

The regular election revolved mostly around the issues of deficit and tariff barriers, to which the two major parties had polar views. In 1983, economists were calling quits for President Reagan as stagflation grew in numbers unseen since the Great Depression. Luckily for Reagan, the economy picked up in 1984 and his outlook for reelection became brighter. “The Great Communicator’s” public poise led Reagan to winning debates with Mondale, the poor television performer, hands down. Due to the public’s general satisfaction and high hopes for the economy, Mondale never came within close range of the President. Reagan continually led by at least ten points in the polls. Winning with 49 states, Reagan’s landslide prompted political analysts to wonder if they were witnessing a “realignment” in political alliances. The 1960s and 1970s gave a Democratic hold on state and local elections with a Republican grasp on the presidency. These traits show trends of ticket-splitting to which some believe have led to some of the breakdown of the coattail system.