The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Fourteen

The 1980 election proved to be decisive, as former Democrat turned Republican, Ronald Reagan, defeated incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter. Reagan, a former actor, had previously been governor of California, while Carter was a former governor of Georgia and a peanut farmer. The hostages being held in Iran certainly weighed on the election, although as I recall, Reagan didn't directly exploit the issue, because he didn't have to, everyone knew about it, and no one really knew what to do about it, including Republicans. Instead, Reagan talked about a military build up and "a strong America" as a way to get respect abroad. The economy was really the central issue of the campaign, as high inflation, led by the high oil and gas prices of the 1970s, dragged on the economy. Carter appointed Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve in 1979 and the Fed began a policy of constant interest rate hikes to wring inflation out of the economy. The whole process was very painful, as interest rates soared, and borrowing money became an expensive proposition, if it could even be done. As part of this, the 1970s had seen an increased issuance of what was becoming an ever more popular form of credit... CREDIT CARDS! The interest rates on these cards soared right along, and the economy slowed. Many Americans didn't necessarily blame Carter for the country's economic problems, or for the hostage situation in Iran, but he also couldn't solve the problems; at least, not as quickly as Americans wanted. A decade and more earlier, Southerner and segregationist George Wallace had often claimed, "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the Republicans and Democrats;" thus, Wallace ran for president as a third party candidate. In the 1980 election, we began to see a shift in ideas, as the more conservative Reagan laid out his plans, including large tax cuts, which were touted to largely "pay for themselves," and large increases in military spending; thus, drawing some sharp contrasts to Democrats, whom Reagan and conservatives termed, "liberals," not that that this was the first time that designation had been used. The thing was, Reagan's conservatism worried many people, but after a reassuring performance at the lone presidential debate in Cleveland, polls shifted dramatically and Reagan won a big electoral victory over Carter, including in the former Confederacy. Overall, Reagan won 489 electoral votes, including those of all former Confederate states, except for Carter's native Georgia, although Reagan won Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee by close margins.**

In the Senate, Republicans made gains in the former Confederacy, as they took seats in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. In the House of Representatives, Republicans gained a seat in Florida making the state's delegation 11 Democrats and 4 Republicans, while Republicans gained two seats in North Carolina, making the delegation 7 Democrats and 4 Republicans, in South Carolina, Republicans gained two seats, making the delegation 4 Republicans and 2 Democrats, in Texas, Republicans picked up one seat, making the delegation 19 Democrats and 5 Republicans, and in Virginia, Republicans gained 3 seats, giving them 9 seats to 1 for the Democrats. In a hotly contested  governor's race in Arkansas, Republicans defeated incumbent, and future president, Democrat Bill Clinton.
 
* During the Republican nominating process (primaries and caucuses), Reagan's major opponent was George H.W. Bush, who dubbed Reagan's economic ideas as, "voodoo economics," a term which continued to be used long after Reagan defeated Bush for the nomination. 

** Reagan talked about support for "states' rights," a term that drew fire from civil rights groups and Democrats for its history as a "cover or code term" for pro-slavery positions, and later, for support of suppression of civil rights for black Americans and for pro-segregation positions. Reagan said he meant he supported things like education being turned totally over to states and local communities, and that he felt the federal government had been unsuccessful in many endeavors, declaring that the government had declared war on poverty (under Lyndon Johnson), but that poverty had won. He also would often say that one of the most fearful things for a person to have happen, was to have a knock at the door and be told, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help" (he often tended to pronounce the word as, "govment"). It all played well with people in the former Confederacy, who perpetuated the South's long contentiousness with the federal government over slavery leading up to the Civil War, then the war itself and then the occupation of the former Confederacy by federal troops in the aftermath of the war (Reconstruction). Of course, the contentiousness and hatred continued with many of the things I've covered in previous parts in this series, including the battles over segregation and civil rights. 

WORD HISTORY:
Trend-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but it goes back to Old Germanic "trandijanan," with the notion of, "curve or bend in a rounded course." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) the verb "trendan," meaning, "to turn about/around, roll." This then became "trenden," before the modern form. It wasn't until the mid 1800s that the meaning, "events moving in a particular direction," became fixed to the word, as this developed from a late 1500s seafaring meaning, "the course of a shoreline or coast." The old form also spawned "trundle," of "trundle bed;" "a low setting bed on wheels" (round objects), and also the verb of that spelling, "to roll something on wheels." English also once had "trendel," "orb, ring," and "trinde," "lump, rounded mass." The various meanings over time make it difficult to research other Germanic relatives, but an interesting relative is Danish "trind," meaning, "plump, rounded."