I often wonder how different our country would have been if Reagan was elected four years earlier (he came within a whisker of getting the nomination in '76). We would have had eight years of Ronald Reagan in his prime, there would have been no Iran hostage crisis (or it would have been shortlived), and we almost certainly never would have had Bush Sr. in the White House.
Those Carter years were terrible, no way do I want to hand this country back to the Clintons in the faint hope that we get another "Reagan" four years from now.
Wow, I never thought of that. I do remember hearing Reagan speak in 76, it would have been the first election we could vote in, my new husband and I—we ended up not voting because we had just moved to Denver and couldn’t find the polling place. Anyway, I was wowed by what he had to say in what I think was a paid spot (30 minutes prime time I think—and as a 19 year old I was glued to the set and his every word).
I was so happy when he ran the next time and I stood in line for over an hour, 9 months pregnant with my 3rd child, just to pull the lever for Reagan. But, to have had him 4 years earlier, wow. Thank you for pointing that out.
susie