Jimmy Carter: Difference between revisions

This strategy proved successful. By mid-March 1976, Carter was not only far ahead of the active contenders for the presidential nomination, but against incumbent Republican president [[Gerald Ford]] by a few percentage points.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shoup |first=Laurence H. |title=The Carter Presidency, and Beyond: Power and Politics in the 1980s |url=https://archive.org/details/carterpresidency0000shou/page/70 |year=1980 |publisher=Ramparts Press |isbn=978-0-87867-075-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/carterpresidency0000shou/page/70 70]}}</ref> As the Watergate scandal was still fresh in the voters' minds, Carter's position as an outsider, distant from Washington, D.C. proved helpful. He promoted government reorganization. In June, Carter published a memoir titled ''Why Not the Best?'' to help introduce himself to the American public.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/16/archives/choice-of-mondale-helps-to-reconcile-the-liberals-choice-of-mondale.html |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Charles |last=Mohr |title=Choice of Mondale Helps To Reconcile the Liberals |date=July 16, 1976 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=May 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531062839/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/16/archives/choice-of-mondale-helps-to-reconcile-the-liberals-choice-of-mondale.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Carter became the front-runner early on by winning the [[Iowa caucuses]] and the [[New Hampshire primary]]. His strategy involved reaching a region before another candidate could extend influence there, traveling over {{convert|50000|mi|km|abbr=off}}, visiting 37 states, and delivering over 200 speeches before any other candidate had entered the race.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/carter/#transcript |title=Jimmy Carter |series=The American Experience |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |date=November 11, 2002 |access-date=June 23, 2020 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626060507/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/carter/#transcript |url-status=live}}</ref> In the South, he tacitly conceded certain areas to Wallace and swept them as a moderate when it became clear Wallace could not win the region. In the North, Carter appealed largely to conservative Christian and rural voters. While he did not achieve a majority in most Northern states, he won several by building the largest singular support base. Although Carter was initially dismissed as a regional candidate, he would clinch the Democratic nomination.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Broder|first1=David|author-link1=David Broder|date=December 18, 1974|title=Early Evaluation Impossible on Presidential Candidates|page=16|work=Toledo Blade|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yMgwAAAAIBAJ&pg=7214%2C2087680|access-date=January 3, 2016|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204092325/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yMgwAAAAIBAJ&pg=7214%2C2087680|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1980, Lawrence Shoup noted that the national news media discovered and promoted Carter, and stated: