"The Sun In The Meadow Is Summery Warm..."
For the American Right the years after Ronald Reagan's loss to Jimmy Carter were harsh ones. Though Carter would be repudiated by his own party and the Country four years later for certain segments of the Right the return of Gerald Ford who sought to control the state rather than starve it was still too much. In their rage for years to follow they would split the right an ensure more and more of the hated reforms they saw in the world taking place. "Negros" and "Women" and "Worse" began to appear in Presidential Tickets, Federal ordinances, new laws, economic and social changes kept going. The fact that they were too slow for many in the Democratic Party meant nothing. The fact that the Republicans were "Fiscally obsessed" meant nothing. Only the longshot hopes of a total victory kept them going as they, and those hardcore Conservatives who chose to stay away from the Populist Party kept looking for a hero. But in 1992 the Populist Party was "Hijacked" by people with different visions of America. And its greatest result would set the stage for its own doom.
But A year before Perot there was a spot of hope for these people. Even then many of them took years more to be willing to recognize it for what it was. The Thought Police after all were insidious. Even Patriots could fall under their sway. But as America changed. As America turned its back more and more on what it had been in their hearts the Governor of Louisiana became a rallying figure. And then in 1996 a greater hope as the REAL Americans took back the Republican Party. Surely the vote was rigged in the end to defeat Buchanan but the stage was set. And in 2000 they would get their chance. And when it came, what had to be divine will followed: Jeb Bush failed. Colin Powell failed to win the Democratic Nomination. Perot Stood Aside. Somehow in a fit of delirium, they won the Republican Nomination. The talking heads swore up and down it would be the greatest defeat for the Republican Party in its history. Herbert Hoover could be redeemed by it. And then the Democrats picked Turner and shattered. And the efforts to organize a National write-in campaign failed. And millions of white Americans talked to themselves behind closed doors, in private backyard parties, and in their beds at night. For some there was haggling. For others silent and bloody hopes. And for too few of them, there was the commitment, but for them, and millions of other Americans who did not have a place in the Governor's vision it would not be enough.
And so in January of 2001 the political establishment stood by, and the former Imperial Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the former President for the National Association for the Advancement of White People, and the violent, hate-mongering governor of Louisiana, David Duke became President. They told themselves he would fail. They told themselves impeachment would be inevitable. Delusion was more comfortable then hard truths: The country had failed and what would follow would be their own fault.
1974-1977: Gerald R. Ford, Jr. / Nelson A. Rockefeller (Republican)
1977-1981: James E. Carter / Walter F. Mondale (Democratic)
1976: Ronald W. Reagan / John B. Connally, Jr. (Republican)
1981-1985: Gerald R. Ford, Jr. / George H. W. Bush (Republican)
1980: Edward M. Kennedy / Marie C. M. “Lindy” Claiborne Boggs (Democratic)
1985-1993: John H. Glenn / Thomas J. Bradley (Democratic)
1984: George H. W. Bush / Pietro V. “Pete” Domenici (Republican), Jesse A. Helms, Jr. / James G. “Bo” Grits (Populist)
1988: Robert J. Dole / Kay A. Orr (Republican), Lawrence P. McDonald / Alexander M. Haig, Jr. (Populist)
1993-1995: Gary W. Hart / Barbara C. Jordan (Democratic)
1992: H. Ross Perot / Clinton Eastwood, Jr. (Independent / Populist), Pierre S. “Pete” Du Pont IV / C. Trent Lott (Republican)
1995-2001: Gary W. Hart / Nancy P. Pelosi (Democratic)
1996: Patrick J. Buchanan / Donald H. Rumsfeld (Republican), H. Ross Perot / John S. McCain III (Independent), Robert K. Dornan / Jack F. Kemp (Populist)
2001-200X: David E. Duke / Helen M. P. Chenoweth (Republican and Populist)
2000: Robert E. Turner III / Joseph R. Biden (Democratic), Dennis J. Kucinich / Cynthia A, McKinney (Reform)