Born between 1965 and 1980, Gen Xers grew up in an era of emerging technology and political and institutional incompetence. Watergate, Three Mile Island, Bhopal, the Iranian hostage crisis, Iran-Contra and the Clinton-Lewinsky debacles mark the emergence of this generation. Mimeograph machines turned into high-speed copiers, faxes plodded from 30 minutes a page to seconds, and heavy adding machines were replaced with handheld calculators. Whereas computers were the size of whole buildings for the Traditional Generation and whole rooms for Baby Boomers, the computer now became a desktop appliance.

Source: http://www.valueoptions.com/spotlight_YIW/gen_x.htm

Yep, that pretty much explains a lot. And for this blog, I’ll focus just on the political part of the above statement.

Oh, don’t worry. This is not rehash of Watergate or Iran-Contra, but rather, a look back (with fresh eyes) at political campaigns during my lifetime (or at least those I can actually remember caring about for as much as a kid in the 1970’s could). After all, the first presidential election really in my lifetime was Nixon/McGovern but I was too young to care.

So we begin with Ford/Carter in 1976 and Reagan/Carter in 1980.

1976.

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Gerald Ford, at the time, seemed like a pleasant enough man but slightly boring. While Jimmy Carter seemed eager to get the job with his promise of “I’ll never lie to you,” which was of course, a subtle reminder that Ford was part of the previous Nixon administration. And we know how well that went.

But a closer look at some of Ford’s campaign material suggested that if you voted for him, he was going to steady the ship and sail with caution but slightly disconnected with the times.

…or in other words, I’m not Nixon and trust me.

…maybe Ford was tougher than originally thought. Is that Jimmy in the peanut? Ouch.

…people to people. As opposed to?

…Happy Days Are Here Again was written in 1929! Ford in a black leather jacket as Fordzie! Clearly, an attempt to be cool and with modern times (Happy Days with Fonzie was the rage in ’76). I’m sure this wasn’t sanctioned by Ford’s campaign..or Fonzie’s.

Lastly…

…hardly a slogan to start a movement, right?

Now on to Carter.

…wow, lofty promises! Save America? Well then, sure.

…Carter towing Ford around…implying that Ford is broken and well, Jimmy can fix it. But the peanut thing is getting tiresome, no?

…this works really well for a movie poster but as a campaign ad, it strikes me as a bit over ambitious. But hey, the tagline at the top promises “a new vision for America” so in the sense, it works.

…psst Mr. Carter: your running mate’s typeface size should always be slightly smaller than yours. Just sayin’.

…thank God! This makes no sense to me at all. Wasn’t Carter running for the Democratic Party’s nomination? ! A perfect oxymoron.

…helping to connect with the average white male rural voter? Perhaps or did it reinforce the Carter’s weren’t ready for prime time. Not technically a campaign ad but Billy got in the way and upstaged his brother with things like Billy Beer, which was enough to put him on the cover of Newsweek!  By the way, did anyone ever actually taste this beer?

The outcome (in case you don’t know or remember):

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President Carter ran for reelection in 1980 against a man who nearly won the Republican nomination in 1976 (but lost to Ford). Times were tough at the end of Carter’s term and Reagan promised a new beginning. Hence, look below. Reagan’s slogan sounds oddly familiar doesn’t it?

Let’s look at Carter/Reagan 1980.

1980.

   or   

The reelection campaign of Jimmy Carter was a tough sell and here’s a sampling of some of this campaign promotional materials:

…keep them working for you is the tagline at the end of this ad. The problem was, they had been and it didn’t appear to be working.

…a change from who? They’d been in power for 4 years at this point. Perhaps a slight dig at Reagan’s actor days? Who knows.

 

…I like this one but I think it misses the point. Unity is important but when times are really really tough (and they were), leadership is strength, something Reagan was ready to exploit to his advantage.

…they were tested for sure and trustworthy as well. But it seems like at the time, circumstances were getting out of their control and they weren’t capable of fixing it. But then what do I know? I was too busy watching Saturday morning cartoons and setting up my Mego super hero figures on my dresser.

Anyhoo…one last look at something any politician can’t help to overcome once perception becomes reality.

…the parodies were becoming more common place like this one stating “America, there’s no surviving Jimmy 2”. The fix was in.

Now, on to Reagan.

…that tagline “Let’s Make America Great Again”…where have I heard that before?

…this is pretty darn solid and right to the point.

 

…bring in the Calvary and save us seems to be the motto here.

 

…from a design point of view this is done really well. The American flag positioned perfectly on the left, the upward tilt of Reagan’s head, the smile and finally the typeface: bold, large and direct. This screams leadership and vision. Whether you agree or not.

…one more time..just for fun. Where have I heard that slogan before?

The outcome (in case you don’t remember or are trying to forget):

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Next up, the reelection campaign of Reagan verses Mondale (1984) and then Bush versus Dukakis (1988).

If you enjoyed this, stay tuned. If not, go back to bed!