2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: In 1980, did Ted Kennedy endorse Jimmy Carter? [View all]andym
(5,443 posts)He ran on Carter's left.
https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/flatview?cuecard=3225
KUR: The Democratic midterm convention, 1978: Kennedy says Jimmy Carter has forgotten the partys traditional social values.
Senator EDWARD KENNEDY: Decent quality of healthcare, north and south, east and west for all Americans as a matter of right and not a privilege.
...
KUR: This was widely viewed as the beginning of Kennedys campaign, a challenge he insists would not have happened had President Carter kept faith with his 1976 platform. The President seemed to be appealing to more conservative voters in order to meet an impending challenge from Ronald Reagan. Kennedy was convinced that someone had to speak for the jobless, homeless and helpless despite the cost.
.....
Sen. KENNEDY: Sometimes a party must sail against the wind, and now is such a time.
KUR: But it was not the right time. Kennedy attacked draft registration, but most people favored it. Kennedy attacked President Carter for causing high unemployment to fight inflation. But most voters said they believed fighting inflation was more important than finding jobs for the unemployed. Still Kennedy never wavered.
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Sen. KENNEDY: The poor and the minorities, who suffer most when times are bad, do not have microphones at this convention, but my campaign does, and from those microphones we will speak for them.