Posted on 05/22/2010 9:22:52 AM PDT by neverdem
Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976 by riding the wave of anger and disillusionment that followed Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. Carter tapped into that anger with the slogan "I will never lie to you." An angry electorate, disgusted with Nixon, decided that was reason enough to give Carter the presidency. He won, in large part, because he made it clear that he wasn't Richard Nixon.
Pundits called Carter a political genius.
Four years later, however, he was a political pariah. Voters embraced Ronald Reagan because he wasn't Jimmy Carter, proving that good slogans do not necessarily produce good government.
Unlike Carter, Reagan had more than slogans. He came to Washington with a clear plan to revive the economy and overhaul the tax code, revitalize the military, and, most important, boost the national spirit. He saw the Republican Party as a "big tent," and he successfully did what is considered political suicide today: He worked across party lines and tried to find compromise.
With Carter, Democrats had the White House for one term; with Reagan and the first George Bush, the Republicans held it for three. That has happened only once since World War II.
There's a profound lesson in this for the Tea Party movement.
Like those who voted for Carter because they were fed up with Nixon, the Tea Party is made up of people who are fed up...
--snip--
I urge all of the Tea Partyers to follow Reagan, not Carter. If they want their movement to be more than a wave that crashes on the beach and then recedes back into the ocean, leaving nothing behind but empty sand, they should stop the "gloom talk." These are not the worst times we have ever faced, nor is the Constitution under serious threat...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Hey Bob,if you love your job more than you respect the American people-then it’s time to go.
Bingo. Sour grapes
I think the voters of Utah learned a lot from Jimmy Carter.
Bob Bennett niece is a liberal writer for the SLT and her Same Sex brother could be why he has conflict of interest?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Weicker
If Bob Bennett had learned the lesson of Lowell Weicker, he’d still have a job.
I just invoked Jimmuh’s name yesterday pointing out that he fawned all over the Mexican president even as that man insulted Carter and our country. History repeats itself.
Wow, what a rewriting of history. That same Washington Post that described the “big tent” Reagan neglected to point out that the Democrats had a firm grasp on the House. The ones he worked with, the Boll Weevil Democrats of the South, were eschewed by the Post and the New York Times. They sought out Gypsy Moth Republicans in the northeast as a counterbalance. Over time, those Boll Weevil seats turned Republican and those Gypsy Moth seats turned Democrat as a slow realignment occurred. Reagan, for his part didn’t really have to change course.
Anyway, Reagan was a candidate, and the tea party was a movement. Jimmy Carter barely won against a man (Ford) who was the only president ever elected without having been on a national ticket. Indeed, he won nothing more than a House district in Grand Rapids, MI in his political career. Reagan the upstart challenging the incumbent Ford had gotten more votes in the primaries, and if NY and PA didn’t have a rigged system, would have won the nomination. That very weak candidate was the man that Jimmy Carter could not muster 51% against. The man who would have lost had 40,000 votes changed sides in Ohio and Hawaii (yes, Hawaii). He was not exactly the seconf coming of Andrew Jackson.
What Bennett advocates in the end is more of the same crap that has fueled the Tea Party movement and contributed to his and other RINO losses. This notion that conservatives need to support Republicans who will work in “bipartisan” fashion with those who are trying to destroy it is a lie, plain and simple. For far too long, conservatives have been getting the short end of the stick while supporting Republicans who favor compromise and appeasement rather than out-right opposing the socialist agenda. The comparison to the Tea Parties and the “anger” in 1976 is flat-out incorrect because there wasn’t really voter anger in 1976. Bottom line: Bennett is a statist beltway RINO turd who got flushed out and now he’s writing his opus and carrying the Left’s water by promoting the ridiculous narrative on how the evil conservatives are doing away with the sensible moderates in the GOP.
There fixed that.
If Bob Bennet doesn’t think the Constitution is in grave danger with this Marxist and his army of socialists he needs to STFU.
Bennett merely proving that the Utah voters finally got the correct message and did the right thing in ending his career.
“Bennett also wrote that the Tea Party movement and dissatisfaction with Washington in the grassroots is a more powerful force than most inside the Beltway realize.”
And he;s got the bruises and contusions to show for it.
Picking himself up off the floor, the very loud drunk turned to the very large man who had just floored him and said,
“Shut up? Gee, I (hic) thought you said `Stand up!”
They delude themselves into thinking they made a bad bill “better”.
“Well...I know it's not what we wanted, but at least it's not as bad as it could have been.”(Typical Numbskull RINO)
Spain...Greece...wait up...we're right behind you.
Vote NO on all this crap and let the Dems own it!!
AARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
Bennett, FTA: These are not the worst times we have ever faced, nor is the Constitution under serious threat...
McCain: "We have nothing to fear from an Obama presidency."
These idiots can't find their a** with both hands and a fully illustrated roadmap.
True. What a cowardly and weak man can do to the country.
With this WashPo editorial, Bennett proves the wisdom of the Utah voters. Like most “career” politicians, he just doesn’t know when to stop digging.
I guess that depends on how one defines "worst."
nor is the Constitution under serious threat...
The end of Bennett's term can't come soon enough.
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