1980 DNC: Divided party limps toward the fall

Kennedy challenge underscores Carter's vulnerability amid weak economy, Iran hostage crisis.

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[belltownboy2012]

I'm a Republican, but I have to admit, that was an awesome speech Ted Kennedy gave!

[ImanJones22]

What an amazing speech.... RIp....EMK

[Derekrife1]

@SkullOfYorick Kennedy lost badly in the 1980 primaries. I'm pretty sure he would have killed Carter if it wasn't for Chappaquiddick, or the really bad drinking habit he fell into after his brothers were killed. He ended up with a lot of personal baggage, which really smothered his rhetoric and Congressional record which is top notch.

[Derekrife1]

@Allocator2008 I disagree on Detroit strongly. I'm not a fan of Obama, but he did get a good victory on sharply increasing the Fuel Efficiency standards which will help us get off oil. We see this with the Chevy volt using an ion plasma battery

The tar-sands oil pipe line is still in question, and I'm actually on the fence, though it looks like he'll buckle on that.

Ass for RFK jr. I don't think he could win. He suffers from a really bad speech impediment which is unfortunate.

[Allocator2008]

President Obama, in all due respect, has made at least two serious errors. First he bailed out Detroit, furthering the addiction to oil instead of shifting to clean energy. Secondly, he is now wanting to build a pipeline from the Canadian tar sands, which is much more expensive to get oil out of, compared to Saudi Arabia (it is lower quality, so you get less bang for your buck, basically).

RFK JR should mount a nomination fight in 2012 to get us off the oil addiction. "The cause endures."

[SkullOfYorick]

Why are political parties so God-damn cowardly sometimes? It was obvious the Democrats couldn't win with Carter. With Ted Kennedy, they would've had a fighting chance.

[FRSFreeState]

"United we Stand, Divided we Fall", should've been the message that democrats took from the 1980 General Elections.

[mr19932001]

Teddy divided the party. If he didn't run and supported Carter, we could've gotten more than 6 states!!!

[Siskonx01]

Did he say Hubert Hornblower??  LOL

[hoosierlooker]

Never thought we would have a worse president than Carter but W took that honor and retired it.

[suwanee4712]

@1prouddemocrat I disagree with this. Whatever else was happening the American people still had favorable personal feelings about Carter. They wanted to believe him and trust him. Which is why the huge amount of undecided voters waited until the last 2 days of the election to see if he would get the hostages released before siding with Reagan. They literally waited for Carter to give them a reason to re-elect him.

[suwanee4712]

@1prouddemocrat Very good point about evangelicals. Reagan made a deal with Falwell and crew and they turned their backs on the man who was most like them. They villified Carter and tried to make him look like an evil person. When in fact Carter was like most Americans, somewhere in the middle on most issues. The other thing that hurt Carter was that he ran as an outsider and he governed as an outsider. He didn't cozy up to Washington elite on either side.