All three Democratic presidential losses in the Eighties were caused by centrism.

[Ken Burch]

137. What I said was that those were their positions

Last edited Sun May 18, 2014, 10:43 PM - Edit history (1)

polling wasn't done on the question of whether Mondale's and Dukakis' centrist stands cost them the election.

What I can point to is voter turnout...which cratered in both elections. That turnout cratered because those candidates created no enthusiasm...at a time when massive anti-Reagan activism was in progress from coast-to-coast and workers were mobilizing against Reagan's assaults on unions and workers' rights. If the Democrats had engaged that activism with a strong fighting people's platform, rather than committing to deficit reduction(a commitment that meant no Reagan economic or social spending decisions would ever be reduced)and had backed peace rather than the status quo on nuclear and Central America policy, a much larger electorate could have been brought to the polls, and a larger electorate always increases Democratic chances.

Instead, the party focused on appeasing Wall Street and white suburbanites...groups Mondae and Dukakis never came close to carrying and groups even Clinton didn't carry in the Nineties.