The trouble with Carter

Toronto Free Press ^ | August 5, 2005 | Klaus Rohrich

[chesley]

I think at the time he was a decent guy, wrong-headed and wrong, but decent, in way over his head. I think the frustration of being a Democrat over the years, the disappointment of being wiped out by Reagan, and th e bad company he keeps, have driven him over the edge. Perhaps he can grab a bush to hang on to before the end of his life.

[Vasilli22]

bump.

[Fudd Fan]

What the hell were Americans smoking in the 70s to vote for this lunatic?

In addition to that, it was Watergate that gave us this POS as prez. I thank God every day we then had The Great Ronald Reagan!

[Brilliant]

"Carter was arguably the worst president in the history of the United States."

I take issue with this statement. The word "arguably" should be stricken. It's not even close. Carter was flat out the worst President in history, and it will be very difficult for Hillary to challenge his record, no matter how incompetent she might be.

[minus_273]

is that even a question? pot. lots of pot.

[Rosemont]

Nixon did get a pretty bad rap. JFK's father stole the elction for JFK in Chicago. But then again, the media loved JFK.

[reagan_fanatic]

I heard he's contracted rabbititis.

[SBprone]

I voted for him in 76. Come to think of it, it must have been something I was smoking because after a couple years of detox I voted for the Gipper in 1980.

If the Demos want to return to power they had better start handing out free weed along with their literature.

[knittnmom]

Carter ran in the first election for which I was eligible to vote. My friends and I argued the pros and cons of Ford and Carter ENDLESSLY. Many could not vote for Ford, because he pardoned Nixon. Many would not vote for Carter because he was unknown. At the booth, I changed my mind and picked a name at random from the other political parties. (Anyone remember Maddox?) Basically, wasted my vote. I did not trust myself to vote for several elections after that. Since I've started voting again, I also try to be well informed of the various candidates' positions and beliefs.

In short, I wasn't smoking anything, but I was young and stupid.

[Screaming_Gerbil]

Well, Carter is truly a disgrace. What the hell were Americans smoking in the 70s to vote for this lunatic?

In 1976 I was 20 years old, in the USMC (Camp Lejeune, NC) and voted for Jimmy Carter by absentee ballot.

(Going from my recollection of events):

With the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon, remember also tht Richard Nixon stepped down and was pardoned by VP Gerald Ford - people were pretty fed up with what was viewed then as corruption by the Republicans. The Democrats could have ran Mickey Mouse and won. So they did.

Carter was from the South, a Baptist who talked about being born-again, and was an officer on a nuclear sub. Looking at him as a candidate with the facts available to the voters at the time, he seemed to be a good choice to set the government right and keep America strong.

Just goes to show you, I guess...

[Fudd Fan]

I heard he's contracted rabbititis.

Wabbits! Wabbits! Wabbits! Waaaaaaaaaaah!

[obnogs]

How do you figure that Clinon "inherited" the White House?

[bill1952]

[elbucko]

Thanks for posting this article. Short, but full of facts.
A history that should not be forgoten.

[massgopguy]

It was the last time a Dem got more than 50% of the vote. The other was on the heels of the Kennedy assassination.

[markedman]

Ping!

And November 4, 1979 is their July 4th, thanks to Carter.

[Screaming_Gerbil]

...But, I probably should thank Carter, because I think he had a part in electing Reagan.

Definitely, that is true. With the Iranian hostage situation, we couldn't wait for Jimmy Carter to get out of office, and just as Carter got elected because of the Watergate scandal, Reagan (our best President in modern times) got elected by a landslide because of Jimmy Carter's mis-handling of the Iranian hostage crisis.

[jammer]

Well, I agree, but I think it's more fundamental than that. He was the nanny incarnate as President, before he lost. He knew more than anyone else about anything (he thought) and didn't hesitate to let us know. Terminal hubris.

[You Dirty Rats]

I don't think that Carter won the '76 election as much as Gerald Ford lost it. Moreover, I don't accept the conventional wisdom and excuse that it was Ford's pardon of Nixon that defeated Ford. Gerald Ford lost because he was the president during the loss of a war.

I always thought Ford did a hell of a job considering the terribly weak position he inherited. He absolutely did the right thing pardoning Nixon. He had probably the worst Congress in our history to deal with (the 94th). He did veto spending increases -- many of which were overridden (on this score he did better than Reagan and Bush IMHO). He gave the OK to go after the Communists who grabbed the Mayaguez. The man was dealt the worst hand of any President and came out OK. He was prone to dumb ideas and gaffes (WIN Buttons and his asinine comment on Eastern Europe), but he was WAY down to Carter and after a VERY close win over Reagan he made up a lot of ground and almost upset Carter.

I don't think that anyone blamed Ford for Vietnam -- his hands were tied by Congress anyway. I do know people that voted for Carter solely because of the pardon. I don't care if Carter's win meant Reagan won in 1980 -- Carter was a total disaster across the board, and having him as President cost this country dearly. At least that goofball didn't get to appoint someone to SCOTUS!

[chesley]

Here's my take on choosing who to vote for: Vote Republican. If no Republican is running for office, don't vote DemocRAT.

This is the first pass through. Naturally, a lot depends on the character of the candidate, the positions of the issues, etc. But in the end, I generally have the same candidates as on the first pass.

There have been some Republicans I just couldn't vote for. So I vote Constitution Party, Libertarians, Green, or Communist, because there are NO DemocRATs that I can vote for. Not even Zell Miller, as long as he runs as a DemocRAT