Presidency of Jimmy Carter a party platform calling for the establishment of a national health insurance program, Kennedy refused to concede. He instead called for an "open convention", in which delegates would be free to vote for the candidate of their choice regardless of the result in the primaries. Carter's allies defeated Kennedy's maneuverings at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, and Carter and Vice President Mondale won re-nomination. Despite Kennedy's defeat, he had mobilized the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which would give Carter only weak support in the general election. The 1980 Republican presidential primaries quickly developed into a two-man contest between
Jimmy Carter rabbit incident Jimmy Carter rabbit incident The Jimmy Carter rabbit incident, dubbed the "killer rabbit" attack by the press, involved a swamp rabbit that swam toward then–U.S. President Jimmy Carter's fishing boat on April 20, 1979. The incident caught the imagination of the media after Carter's press secretary mentioned the event to a correspondent months later. President Carter had gone on a solo fishing expedition in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. According to Carter, a rabbit being chased by hounds "jumped in the water and swam toward my boat. When he got almost there, I splashed some water with a paddle." Upon