The Election of Reagan

Personality

Reagan was much more charismatic and
polished than Goldwater

Radiated optimism

Convinced Americans he would bring
a new era of prosperity and patriotism

Even-tempered communicator skills shone through before the debate

Electoral votes

Reagan won 50.6% of the popular vote, but
90.9% of the electoral vote

Electoral votes are given on a "winner takes all" basis

Religion became prevalent

the Moral Majority was a political org. working to fulfill religious goals

founded by Jerry Falwell

Worried about the decline of the traditional family

Moral majority "report cards" always favored Republicans

Reached out to Americans who traditionally didn't participate in the political process

2 million more registered voters

A Time for Choosing speech

Motivated many Conservatives

Won admiration

Allowed Reagan to win the nomination by a landslide

State government over federal government

Criticized "throwing money" at social issues

Wanted to reduce taxes and limit government
regulation of industry to promote economic growth

Conservative Economist Milton Friedman and his
wife Rose Friedman wrote Free to Choose

"the story of the United States is an economic
miracle... What produced this miracle? Clearly
not central direction by government"

Other conservatives

neoconservatives

traditionalists

warned about abandoning traditional
values for new freedoms from counterculture

Anticommunism

Focused on dangers posed by the Soviet Union

Questioned detente

Fought SALT II in the Senate

Liberals

Had picked up significant steam as civil right and other activist driven issues began to appear on the national stage

Believed that the federal government should be very active

Protecting rights of minorities and women

Cooperation with international orgs. like UN

Conservatives

Few conservative presidents within the last
few years and had lost significant votes after
the defeat of Barry Goldwater

Not very prevalent

Shared some core values with liberals but
differed on a few counts

1940s and 1950s

Blurred party dividing lines

Bipartisan foreign policy

New Right

Resurgent conservative movement

Criticized liberal programs

Some said welfare programs
rewarded lack of effort

Thought that Great Society had
made things worse

Thought that government taxed citizens
and businesses too heavily

Sagebrush Rebels

Thought that the federal government
controlled too much land in the
Western states

Wanted more power to the states

Population Trends

More Americans moved to suburbs
and their support for liberal ideas
waned (cities were mostly liberal)

Migration from the Rust Belt to
the Sunbelt

Republicans had become the
dominant political party in the South

Reagan became the spearhead of the
new Conservative movement

Democratic Party began to unravel

Polarizing issues took first priority

Vietnam

Urban riots

Counterculture

Distanced Midwestern and Southern Americans

Distanced white conservative Christians

Loss in government trust

Watergate

Iran hostage crisis