30 years ago today a great man was elected President of the USA

[WI_DEM]

Jimmy Carter of Georgia!

Nov. 2, 1976

[sinkingfeeling]

1. A very good man was elected that day.

[indepat]

20. And shunted out of office four years later, no small thanks to a 'puke October

Surprise which was treasonous, if happening as widely reported, but what's a modicum of treason with so much power at stake. :puke:

[treestar]

2. Indeed.

[Nite Owl]

3. The world is truly a

better place because of him.

[tblue]

4. Compare what he's done since leaving the WH to ANY Republican president

[tblue]

5. DELETED OOPS DUPE

[xxqqqzme]

6. Imagine if his energy policy had been

expanded and followed - where would we be today? Not in this hole -the escalation of global warming would have slowed; we wouldn't be concerned w/ radioactive waste....imagine.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. We now know why it wasn't allowed to be expanded and followed.

[cspanlovr]

7. He was the first person I ever voted for who won. Then, 12 long

horrible years, then the wonder of Clinton, then, well, you know the rest. I've always been proud of that vote.

[Lefta Dissenter]

8. my first...

...presidential election that I could vote in, that is...

Oh, for the good old days.

[Stardust]

10. Hard to believe there was a time when (the majorityof )Americans recognized decency

[shanti]

11. it was my first election

i was 21 and voted for jimmy too!

[MnFats]

12. oh, this makes me sad. I really thought things were going to be OK...

...with Nixon and Ford gone, and Carter promising to never lie to us.
....yeah, i thought things would be OK.
.....damn, but Carter got screwed. By a crazy old mullah in Iran and by the dirty tricks brigade....started with Nixon, who passed the mantle to Reagan....we see it in its most high refinement today in *

[CrispyQ]

13. I wonder what a different path our country might be on if

he had won again in '80.

[endarkenment]

14. Later he became great.

Carter gets some of the blame for starting the righward tilt of the Democratic Party. It is his post presidency career for which he should rightly be considered a great man.

[DemoTex]

15. Jimmy Carter. "Sonny" Perdue and "Sonny" Bu$h should hang their heads.

Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter in GANG Grumman OV-1 Mohawk ("Widow-maker")

[LeftishBrit]

16. He was - and is - greatly respected around the world

What a contrast to Bush

[Strawman]

17. Thinking about what happened to him makes me pessimistic

I hate to say that about such a great man, but it really does. It seems like the system is too corrupt and institutions are too thick and inert for even the most honest and capable man to try to fix them and that the people only reward politicians that lie to them.

It trims my expectations regarding politicians, that's for sure. There's something wrong with a world where I can't vote for a Democrat like Jimmy Carter becuase he can't get re-elected to Federal Office and some gutless panderer like, oh, Debbie Stabenow can.

I guess the lesson, one that is not entirely pessimistic, is that we cannot rely on politicians to change the system for the better. Courageous leaders like Jimmy Carter are almost always gonna get burned in our system. Our hope is that if we can change the tide of public opinion to get it where it needs to be in a just society, the Debbie Stabenows of the world, laggards though they are, will follow.

I don't know if we'll even see such an honest reform wind sweep through Washington as that hopeful one that seemed to be coming on the day he walked down the streets of Washington during his inaugural parade, shaking hands with the people as a true man of the people.
He really tried to be our President, the man who was going to look out for our interest in Washington, and who respected us enough to always shoot straight with us. But we the people didn't have the good sense to stick with him. We liked the fantasy-laden script of that B-Movie called the Reagan Administration better.

Usually, it's the politicians who let people down. In Jimmy Carter's case, I think we let him down.

[BurtWorm]

18. Oh please!

Thanks for reminding me that thirty whole freaking years have gone by since what seems like only yesterday! ;)

[radfringe]

19. oh maaaaaannnnnnnn...

ouch... that was my first presidential election... reminds me how old I've gotten... a bit wiser than before

and I'll have all of you math majors out there know one thing - I may grow older - but I'll never grow up.. :)

[WI_DEM]

21. I was 12 then and he was the first candidate I remember being

enthusiastic about.

[Jed Dilligan]

22. I was 2 and

it's actually one of the first things I remember, period.