Al From Quotes
… the truth is Walter Mondale in 1984 had a perfectly unified campaign — every interest group was behind him …. In party politics, unity is very much overrated.
While all the traditional Democratic interest groups supported Mondale, the average voters were not so enthusiastic. The Democrats lost 49 states to Ronald Reagan. The interest groups in the base of each party can help increase the turnout for a candidate or sit on their hands and suppress it. But if the individual voters are not generally enthused for a candidate, the interest groups cannot deliver a win in a presidential election.
Al From, President, Democratic Leadership Council, Quoted in New York Times, December 22, 2013
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Republican Party primary elections had become very contentious. The radical right and the Tea Party, though a minority of the party, had the power to destroy almost any Republican candidate’s chances. So those Republican political candidates were forced to pander to the extreme right and then try and backtrack to the center for the general election. As a result, few people believed the statements of Republican office seekers as no one knew what they really believed including members of their own party, Bush, no longer running for any political position, found himself with much more credibility and influence in the party than those who were running for office. The problem of appealing to party extremes was not unique to the Republicans at that time, but the degree and extent was unprecedented accounting for the distrust.
Carter philosophically did not see his role as the head of his party anywhere near as important as his Presidential role. At the same time, Carter had forged Congressional majority support from a coalition of conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans. However, that alienated him even more from the liberal Democrats who even fielded Ted Kennedy as a primary candidate against him. Carter won the nomination but lost many of his own party for the general election and he lost to Ronald Reagan.
Al From is the founder and former CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council. His ideas and political strategies during the past quarter century played a central role in the resurgence of the modern Democratic Party. From is the author of The New Democrats and the Return to Power, released in December 2013.
