Shifts in population trends significantly favored the Republican party during Reagan's election, with many Americans moving to conservative-leaning suburbs and conservatives migrating from the Rust Belt to the populous Sun Belt.
Proved to be charismatic and polished and
supported strong government and traditional values and opposed big government
Faith in the government was lost
Watergate and the oil crisis combined with the
Iran hostage crisis worried Americans
Democratic party unraveled and the vietnam war
and urban riots further weakened the trust
Conservatives were worried about the threat posed to society by abandoning traditional values for the freedoms represented by the mass media
The moral majority was a political organization working
to fulfill religious beliefs and prevent the degredation of the traditional family
boosted republican party by reaching voters who had not
voted before and favored republican canidates
Affirmative action caused reverse discrimination
Liberal welfare contributed to more children being born out of wedlock and therefore further declining the traditional family
Reagan showed his communication skills during he and Carter's only presidential debate
Population trends benefitted the republican party
southerners changed from democratic party to republican
migration of conservatives from the rust belt to the sun belt
benefitted conservatives as the sun belt was highly populated and allowed conservatives to recieve many votes
an increasing amount of americans moved to the suburbs which became a conservative area
Conservatives/anti-communists questioned
detente and the dangers posed by the Soviet Union
Conservatives wanted to reduce taxes
and limit gov regulation of industry to
promote economic growth and reduce
inflation
sagebrush rebels wanted land given back to the western states believing that the federal gov owned too much of it
liberal gov taxed too heavily an spent too much on the wrong programs; great society made poverty worse
unfunded mandates: programs required but not paid for
by the federal government
Because of the decline in Northern industries, Americans
lacked faith for the future and when the economy stagnated, liberal ideas fell short and conservative ideas rose