Back to the 1976 Election

It now appears inevitable that Democrats will nominate Senator Barack Obama as their candidate for the White House, instead of the early favorite and once-thought inevitable Senator Hillary Clinton. Too bad they have chosen an anti-war appeaser as their nominee in this Age of Terror, though this is good for conservatives.

During the 1976 Elections, liberals voted in an eerily similar candidate, Jimmy Carter, a so-called man of peace at a time of Détente with the communist Soviet Union. Carter's peace plan actually caused more wars than it stopped, with the rise of Islamic radicalism in Iran, Marxist wars of revolution spreading unchecked, plus the surprising (to our Democrat President) Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Also, while the US was disarming, the communists were rapidly exploiting our naiveté to create the largest military forces in all history, surpassing the US in most weapons systems.

Obama as Carter, and the ongoing threats facing our nation isn't the only comparison we can garner from this Era. In the Republican battles for the White House, between incumbent President Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan we can view a glimmer of the Obama/Hillary contest. That year, the hard-line Cold Warrior Reagan gave the more moderate Ford a tough struggle, though the latter won his Party's nomination, it was such a close race that eventually the he lost the Election in November to Carter. Reagan, with his realist vision of the Cold War, turned so many conservatives and independents against the naive advocates of Détente, he paved the way for his own victory in 1980, while hurting our chances in 1976.

Clinton appears as the insurgent candidate this year, playing the role of Reagan 32 years later, though hardly with the Great Communicator's worldview. Though she may be on the losing side this election cycle, her impressive run and stubborn refusal to quit has impressed even her many critics on the Right. Meanwhile, her more moderate views (compared to Barack Obama's) are more acceptable to the majority of Americans still wary of the terrorist threat we have faced since 9/11.

Fortunately, in the "Carter role", prepared to take advantage of the chaos in the other Party is Republican Senator John McCain. Only in this can he be compared to the disastrous Carter, who proved woefully incapable of contending with the rise of Radical Islam in Iran, or the resurgent Soviets. In contrast, the Maverick is for smaller government, fiscal responsibility, pro-life, and most importantly, prepared to take the fight to our nation's enemies for as long as it takes.