General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Statement from the Carter Center on the Syria Crisis [View all]BlueMTexpat
(15,369 posts)who opposed Carter's policies. Don't you remember that he primaried Carter in 1980? Some of Kennedy's primary supporters never could stomach Carter. Remember, among other things, it was Carter who was associated with deregulation and deinstitutionalization processes of the era (with the best of intentions which were later corrupted to suit TPTB under St Ronnie), as a couple of examples. Many disappointed Kennedy supporters either either switched to Anderson or did not vote at all, with the mantra I have seen on DU all too often: Dem = Rep, e.g., Carter = Reagan. You and I both know that was - and remains - as far from the truth as it could be.
Just because those individuals were not you (nor were they I) doesn't mean that it didn't happen. I knew a lot of people from MA, for example, who were pretty "meh" about the election once Kennedy was out, which scared me sh**less. I never really got over it.
I have been a lifelong liberal Democrat and a staunch Kennedy admirer forever. For example, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in North Africa in the 1960s. But I was extremely disappointed and disheartened by Kennedy's primarying of Carter in 1980, giving the GOP ammunition from the Dem side against a Carter already beleaguered because he had never been part of the "inside the Beltway" establishment.