As he lies in state I feel it’s time I wrote about Jimmy Carter.
    Right up front: I didn’t vote for him. I didn’t vote Reagan. I may have voted Ford: not sure my politics were changing at the time.
    I hate to type this, but Carter, and society as it was at the time, were really responsible for losing the 80 election. Was any of that fair? Mostly not. I am only going to cover the 3 fair reasons. Example of unfair: some people think the “malaise” comment itself had significant impact. I tend to think very little if any. Most of us, left and right, knew he was right.
    Now Reagan’s upbeat approach may have capitalized on that and helped, but so many other things went wrong… so not as much as some think.
    Number 3: a very minor thing but still a problem, the Kennedy affect. Ted wanted to discuss solutions to the national health care situation. BTW, HE WAS RIGHT, but Carter used the phony Rose Garden strategy. He couldn’t come out because he was busy dealing with the hostage situation. To the nation he was unveiled as a big phony when his polls severely dipped and suddenly he became available. But it came too late. The two dragged Carter down.
    This whole thing was a Don Quixote-like battle for Kennedy. I’m sure he knew he wasn’t going to win. Few people ever accused Ted of being stupid. Irresponsible? Sure. Stupid? No. It was something he really felt had to be done, and agree. Who knows how we could have at least Cartercare long before Obamacare if they had joined forces?
    To say Carter handled very badly is a vast understatement.
    Coming in at number two, and not to be underestimated, was that actual, all to real, malaise. After Nixon’s fall, the horrid results due to Ford’s following through on Vietnamization and the escape from Nam (talk about a failed policy that can be laid on Nixon’s grave), and to a lesser extent the phony escape reality disco culture, we all knew we were bogged down, very depressed, trying to avoid reality. Reagan offered a bright city on the hill positiveness. In some ways FDR-ish when comparing the negativity of Hoover vs. Roosevelt. No, not when it came to policies.
    Regardless of anything I’ve typed here things just didn’t look good for Carter. Thom Hartmann claims Carter would have won if not for our number one. I think that dubious for all I have mentioned.
    Number one, of course, was Reagan’s people negotiating behind Ford’s back with the Iranians. The Iranian government released the hostages only as Reagan became president. The hostages continual plight and the failed rescue attempt were like adding power downers to that malaise.
    An obvious death dealing political spear aimed at the side of an Iranian crucified Carter.
    So we got Reagan. Of course I blame myself, somewhat. I agreed with Kennedy and voted Anderson, even though I didn’t agree with a lot of his policies. That was the first and last time I voted for an inde candidate. Always seemed pointless to me. The way our system is set up they simply can’t win, help the worst win. CHANGE THE SYSTEM FIRST TO SOMETHING LIKE RON OFF VOTING.
    I tend to agree with the sentiment that he was a far more successful and heroic ex-president. And imagine if he had won and left the solar panels atop the White House? We might be even further own the road to alternate energy sources. Imagine the joint healthcare effort between him and Kennedy. Yes, Jimmy, there was “malaise” but there was so much that could have been done and said to turn our rotting malaise sandwich into a lightly mayonnaise coated hero.
    Carter really missed so many opportunities to turn his political fortunes around. Fortunately he learned to do that post presidency. For that I honor him.

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    “Inspection” is a column that has been written by Ken Carman for over 50 years. Inspection is dedicated to looking at odd angles, under all the rocks and into the unseen cracks and crevasses that constitute the issues and philosophical constructs of our day: places few think, or even dare, to venture.
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