A candidate ran on a return to normalcy platform and won 60.2% of the popular vote and 404 E C votes

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Can lightning strike twice in the same place and could that lightning be Joey B?

[David__77]

1. Harding seems like he was pretty conservative.

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/22-the-new-era/warren-g-harding-and-the-return-to-normalcy-1920/

At the same time, I imagine he was an improvement on Wilson.

[dsc]

15. He was lightyears better on race

https://narratively.com/this-presidential-speech-on-race-shocked-the-nation-in-1921/

Pointing to the white audience members, Harding said the end of World War I three years earlier had given the nation a new challenge to face. “If the Civil War marked the beginnings of industrialism in a South which had previously been almost entirely agricultural,” he continued, “the World War brought us to full recognition that the race problem is national rather than merely sectional.” Attracted to an increased demand for labor and higher wages in the northern states, Harding described what would later be called the Great Migration of blacks from the South. Of the population shift, Harding said, “it has made the South realize its industrial dependence on the labor of the black man and made the North realize the difficulties of the community in which two greatly differing races are brought to live side by side.”

African Americans had served the country during the war, Harding pointed out, “just as patriotically” as whites. Blacks, he said, “were transported overseas and experienced the life of countries where their color aroused less of antagonism than it does here. Many of them aspire to go to Europe to live.” The service brought African-American soldiers their “first real conception of citizenship – the first full realization that the flag was their flag, to fight for, to be protected by them, and also to protect them.

[Sloumeau]

2. I am assuming that you mean Warren G. Harding in 1920.

FYI, I believe Harding's win may have been closer to 61.2% of the vote:

1920 Vote totals:

Harding.....Republican............16147249.....61.24%
Cox..........Democratic..............9140864.....34.67%
Debs.........Socialist...................897704.......3.40%
Watkins.....Prohibition Party........182711.......0.69%

Grand Total Electoral Votes: 26,368,528
----------------------------------------------------------
,
Link: https://history.house.gov/Institution/Election-Statistics/

Click on the last PDF in the list (1920) to download the file.

Then look at the very bottom of the very last page in the file for the totals.

I found this to be a great resource to get vote totals straight from the horses mouth.

[crazytown]

3. Clarification: A Republican candidate ran on a return to normalcy platform and won but

Every, and I mean EVERY successful Democrat since Harding has run on 'Hope and Change'.

Biden is the first the Dem to run on 'Old and Improved'. We will see how it goes.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. There has never been an ABNORMAL incumbent before.

[RainCaster]

5. There is this time!

Never had there been an impeached candidate before.

This orange buffoon is UNUSUAL for so many reasons, none of which are good.

[crazytown]

6. Agreed. This election is like no other for Democrats.

Every poll I've seen has one thing in common - Democrats No.1 issue is voting Trump out. This is be the first election I can remember when voting against something, is more important than the promises and the candidate.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. The Dems usually win with a fresh young face.

Kennedy
Carter (to an extent)
Clinton
Obama




But there has never been a Republican like Trump. Normal just might be what is needed .

[crazytown]

8. When nominated, FDR was 50,

but thinking about it, there was both hope and normalcy in the campaign theme song 'Happy days are here again'.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. We were in a Depression .That wasn't normal.

I'm not saying Joe is a great candidate but I strongly believe it's going to be harder for the Rethugtrumplicans to demonize Joe than any of the other contenders. It's going to be hard to make him into a "bad guy".

[KPN]

18. I don't know. They already have to some extent. They will also link him to Obama and Hilary to

amp up all their irrational haters. Then of course, they'll make a few other things up. There will be a swift-boat of some sort (not that Ukraine isn't) -- no question.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. He will convince his demented base Joe is a bad guy but alas that's not enough.

[KPN]

24. That's the hope anyway. I'm worried about another stolen election more than anything else.

We outnumber them significantly, yet lost 2016 due to criminal manipulation, count or both in a handful of States that mattered only because of the EC.

I'm worried that our system will once again not adequately investigate or challenge the results if the election is in fact stolen (we know they intend to, but will they succeed?). I'm worried that we -- the masses -- will acquiesce again. We cannot afford that.

Our only sure bet is massive dominance at the polls. A resounding rejection of tRumpism. Will that happen? I'm not sure any of our candidates has the charisma to ensure that. I can only vote Dem and hope.

[crazytown]

9. "But there has never been a Republican like Trump"

No, but in 1984 there was a Republican I disliked as much (at that time). 1984 is the relevant election. Trump will be running on "It's Summer in America".

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. Reagan had a sunny personality. Hard for Trump to run as the sunny guy.

Trump can try to run on a "Morning In America" campaign but the zeitgeist won't support it. He's going to run a classic "us versus them" campaign. Joe will say we are all us. That might be enough.

[crazytown]

12. It's funny - all this time later I can't let go of the animosity I felt towards VP Mondale.

I didn't think Hart had much of a chance, but felt, if we are going to go down, does it have to be for the same timid shit?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. Four points

1) What we are seeing now is the continuation of the "okay" Obama economy once you get past the hype.
2) The economy in 1984 was really better than the economy in 1980.
3) Reagan had an approval rating of 60% on election day 1984. Any incumbent would have won in that political environment.
4) We don't like Reagan but he was nothing like Trump. Look where he was in 11/84

[crazytown]

20. I watch the presidential approval polls closely

trump's approval is soft, his dissapproval very hard indeed.


Fox News Poll https://www.scribd.com/document/439839999/Fox-December-8-11-2019-National-Topline-December-15-Release

It is, as you say, an abnormal election. There is no precedent I am aware of for this sort of unpopularity with a strong economy.

[Drunken Irishman]

35. The only one I can think of is Nixon in '73.

In 1973, unemployment ended at 4.9%, the lowest it had been since 1969, and the GDP was at 5.6%, the highest it had been since 1966. To put that into perspective, the last time we ended a year with that high of GDP was ... 1984.

haha

But of course, Nixon was being forced from office that year, so...

[Drunken Irishman]

34. Hart would have done better than Mondale. It would've still been a blowout...

But probably more similar to what Dukakis saw in 1988.

Mondale was a very weak nominee. And frankly, it's obscene that the Democrats even thought it rational to nominate the VP to a president who was, at the time, considered one of the worst in modern American history (not that it's fair or anything). It'd be like the GOP turning around and nominating Dan Quayle in 1996.

[crazytown]

37. And I should add, there is no comparison with Biden,

the Vice President of a much loved Administration that most of us miss every day. In the early '80s, people wanted to forget Carter. When I first saw Mario Cuomo's speech at the '84 Convention, I thought, surely we could have done better than Fritz.

[Drunken Irishman]

33. Democrats have also lost with fresh, young faces...

George McGovern was only 50 when he ran (only three-years and four years older than Obama and Clinton respectively) when he was elected. Al Gore was 52. Mondale was 56 and lost massively to Reagan. Carter was 56 when he lost to Reagan.

I guess Al Gore and Mondale weren't fresh faces, as they had been vice presidents, but they were all younger than their opponents.

McGovern was 50 and Nixon was 59 in 1972 - an age difference of nine years.
Carter was 56 and Reagan was 69 in 1984 - an age difference of 13 years.
Mondale was 56 and Reagan was 73 in 1984 - an age difference of 17 years.
Gore was 52 and Bush was 54 in 2000 - an age difference of two years.

But the reality is that only one candidate in this cycle, who has a realistic shot at winning the nomination, fits the bill and it's Mayor Pete and, unlike any of those mentioned above, the only executive/legislative experience he has is being mayor of a medium-sized town. And, as much as I like Mayor Pete, he lacks the charisma that made Bill Clinton and Barack Obama dynamic candidates.

It's very, very likely the Democratic nominee is going to be white and is going to be over 70.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

36. I should have added charismatic

FDR, JFK, WJC, and BHO were charismatic leaders.

[lapfog_1]

26. so that explains it...

[KPN]

16. Yep. That's all.

[sdfernando]

29. I'm sure you weren't calling out Biden's age with that 'Old and Improved' comment

Elizabeth Warren is very close to Biden's age and technically could also be called 'Old and Improved'...after all, she was a republican at one point.

[crazytown]

30. I wasn't referring to Biden's age, no.

I was talking about a perspective, 'like back in the day but better' - as a riff on 'new and improved'. Apologies. I will chose my words more carefully.

[sdfernando]

31. I didn't think you were but wanted to be sure.

I pretty much like all of the candidates, except for Gabbard, and will support the nominee no matter who it is.

[crazytown]

32. Surely, the Democratic electorate will fight for this election harder than any since 1932

for the same reasons - the very future of the Republic is at stake.

[highplainsdem]

14. Biden is running on an agenda more liberal than Hillary Clinton's:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287271997

[crazytown]

22. Biden's agenda is no more liberal than the 2016 Party platform.

[highplainsdem]

23. That's not true. See the analysis quoted in the OP I linked to.

[crazytown]

25. I would like you to do your own analysis,

referencing the party platform. Has anyone even read it?

Americans should be able to access public coverage through a public option, and those over 55 should be able to opt in to Medicare.
https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2016_DNC_Platform.pdf

[highplainsdem]

27. I don't see any point in reinventing the wheel. See the article I cited. As for health care:

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/campaigns/article234890482.html

Still, Biden’s current set of policy prescriptions would likely be considered radical if they had been proposed in any previous Democratic presidential primary. That’s especially clear in comparison to Clinton’s 2016 platform.

On health care, Clinton proposed offering a public insurance plan for Americans enrolled in the health care exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. She also wanted to let adults older than 55 buy into Medicare.

Biden’s plan goes much further: He wants to allow all Americans — including those receiving insurance through their employer — to buy into a government-backed insurance plan, a shift some progressives have said would represent an enormous change to Obamacare. (Biden also proposed significantly increasing the subsidies available to those who enroll in the public option.)

[crazytown]

28. I am an "if not now when" sort of person.

1994, 2000, 2010, 2016 - each time the GOP came back worse. If by 2022 - the Biden administration has not delivered on play-it-safe proposals, the takeover of the Party, by DSA types on the left, and country by GOP nazi's on the right, draws ever closer.

[boomer_wv]

17. Harding also.....

nominated a former POTUS for Supreme Court. Hmm......

[ritapria]

21. WG was considered a highly charasmatic candidate for his time

The country went into deep mourning when he died …..The scandals came into full focus after he passed ….He pardoned Eugene V. Debs ….. John Dean wrote a biography on Warren Harding ...World War One cost so many lives …. The Post-war economy was engulfed in inflation ….The Republicans could have nominated a cucumber and won in 1920