Rockford Native John B Anderson has died

John B. Anderson of Illinois, who died today at the age of 95, served in Congress for 20 years. But what gave him national fame was a briefly sensational independent candidacy for president in 1980, running against President Jimmy Carter and soon-to-be-president Ronald Reagan. By doing so, Anderson represented two milestones in modern political history: He was the most conspicuous of early conscientious objectors to the conservative movement’s takeover of the Republican Party, and he was the prototype for the kind of centrist third-party presidential candidate that so many pundits and billionaires long for in today’s era of partisan polarization.
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Anderson was never afraid to take heretical positions. His signature economic proposal in 1980 was a 50-cent-per-gallon federal gasoline tax increase with the proceeds to be devoted to a cut in the Social Security payroll tax. It’s still a pretty good idea, if not necessarily something that would poll well, much like Anderson himself

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RIP John Anderson, the Last Liberal Republican

Pretty much he was the last one to make a stand against the narcissism and the fantasy of the American people, the last one willing to claim that we needed to suck it up and pay, and suck it up and do good work, if we wanted to be a great nation.

He was roundly rejected at the polls, and the entire political establishment took note.

RIP John B.

John B. ran for Potus in 1980 as an Independent while continuing to be enrolled in the Republican party.

Anderson entered the campaign due principally to Reagan's strategists who figured that with liberal dissatisfaction of Carter, and the reluctance of other voters to vote for Reagan, Anderson could pull votes from Carter in traditionally blue states. Which is exactly what Anderson accomplished. The Republican strategy succeeded, and it succeeded spectacularly.

Specifically Anderson got up to 15% of the vote in blue states that tilted to Reagan instead, namely Minnesota, Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts among a few others. Additionally, Reagan anyway won back states in 1980 Republicans had won in 1968 and 1972 but lost to Carter in 1976, namely, NC, SC, TN, KY, Al, MS, LA, TX. Reagan racked up 90% of the electoral college vote in 1980. GHW Bush was Reagan's vp but John B. wuz Reagan's Best Man.

Yes voters vote as they choose to vote but they vote for someone in the field of candidates that they are offered and that is available to us. Perot in 1992 got 20% of the popular vote, no Electoral College Votes and Clinton wuz elected Potus with only 44% of the vote. We are well aware still of Nader's idiosyncratic candidacy in 2000 and his impact on the vote in Florida and thus on the outcome of the general election of the Potus. Nader then the Supreme Court of course.

As a Republican in the House from Illinois John B. voted every time for a Republican to be speaker, which is what Republicans do in Washington in the first week of January every odd-numbered year. D's vote for their candidate likewise and may the one with the most votes win -- which is exactly what occurs. John B. never voted for a D to be speaker of course. John B. wuz a Republican first and foremost in his political life.

John B. the liberal Republican goes to eternity with the almost silent legacy to have been more important and indeed vital to Reagan's election in 1980 and the successes of the Republican party than people know or care to know. What's done is done yet the consequences of it live on right up to the present.

In the car, he said to his wife, "I keep hearing the question the guy in the restaurant asked: 'Why are you running for President? It's such a terrible job.' I wish I had a better answer."

Keke Anderson replied, "It's easy, John. You know why you decided you should run. Someone must address our pressing national problems."

"That's no answer," he said. "Jimmy Carter said that last time and look what he's done to reduce confidence in government. Why should they believe me this time?"

"John, stop selling yourself short," she said. "People know who you are and what you've done. Maybe not here in New Hampshire. But there are pockets of support."

Anderson said, almost to himself, "It's a tough question to answer. I just don't know."

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https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1980/02/john-anderson-the-nice-guy-syndrome/306028/

John B Anderson....one of the Good Guys.

The Republican John Anderson's so-called independent campaign for president in 1980 had a clear message.


Anderson got 7% of the national vote while Reagan won 90% of the electoral college vote.


The popular vote in 1980:

Ronald Reagan: 50.75%
Jimmy Carter: 41.01%
John Anderson: 6.61%
Ed Clark: 1.06%

= Reagan got 50% of the popular vote and 90% of the electoral college vote. Anderson tilted blue states to Reagan by paper thin margins where Anderson got 10% to 15% of the vote in the particular state. Reagan won Massachusetts for example despite getting only 41.9% of the vote in the state; Reagan won MA by 4000 votes of 2.5 million cast while Anderson got 325,000 votes. Reagan won 18 states by the aggregate of 927,513 votes. A shift of a million votes would have reelected Carter.


From the LA Times, December 4th....

Anderson waged an independent campaign in 1980 against President Carter and his Republican challenger Reagan. Anderson received 7% of the vote, enough, observers believed, to tilt the election.

In November 1980, Anderson’s National Unity Party platform drew nearly 7% of the nationwide popular vote, sapping more support from Carter than from Reagan and handing Reagan a landslide victory.

Carter refused to debate Anderson, but Reagan, who had been California’s governor, agreed to a televised confrontation, making Anderson the first third-party presidential candidate to debate a major-party opponent on TV.

John B. Anderson, whose quixotic run for president helped hand the election to Reagan, dies at 95 - LA Times


Of course Reagan wanted John B. in the nationally televised debate. Carter said he would sit out any debate with Anderson included which is what the idiot Carter did do, boycotting the debate and leaving Reagan and Anderson only on national television to massage each other in their fiscal conservative agreement. Carter's decision to boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow was unpopular throughout the USA. Reagan promised to free the U.S. hostages in Iran (which he did accomplish in Iran-Contra).

Anderson chose as his vp candidate the two-term former Governor of Wisconsin Democrat Patrick Lucy who supported Sen. Ted Kennedy in Kennedy's unsuccessful nomination challenge of Carter. Anderson-Lucy drew the votes of a number of liberals, Democrats, Rockefeller Republicans, college graduates, intellectuals, students. Jacqueline Kennedy endorsed Anderson and said she voted for him.

When Anderson entered the race as an independent Reagan's election was problematic. Carter ended up winning six states and the District of Columbia. Reagan's win exceeded all imagination except for the Reagan campaign strategists who provided a mass of volunteers to get Anderson on all the ballots in the key states. In 2000 Anderson endorsed Ralph Nader.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_in_Massachusetts,_1980

Hawkeye10 said:

RIP John Anderson, the Last Liberal Republican

Pretty much he was the last one to make a stand against the narcissism and the fantasy of the American people, the last one willing to claim that we needed to suck it up and pay, and suck it up and do good work, if we wanted to be a great nation.

He was roundly rejected at the polls, and the entire political establishment took note.

RIP John B.

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Wow, I didn't know he was still alive. Dude was old when I was still young.

Ah, I see why. He died at 95.