292 a short history of the united states
term as President. He was challenged by Senator Edward M. (Ted)
Kennedy of Massachusetts, the younger brother of John and Robert,
although this challenge faded after initial successes in the primaries in
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York when, in a national televi-
sion program, Kennedy failed to explain why he wished to be President.
Carter won renomination at the Democratic National Convention on
August 14 in New York City. But he and his running mate, Walter F.
Mondale, faced a hard- driving Republican in Ronald Reagan, a former
movie actor and governor of California, who had attracted widespread
support from conservatives with his call for lower taxes and a less active
government. Reagan attacked Carter’s economic and foreign policies
and advocated what he called “supply-side” economics, that is, the pro-
cess of lowering taxes as a way of achieving prosperity. Reagan’s most
important challenger for the Republican nomination, George Herbert
Walker Bush, called “supply-side” economics “voodoo economics.”
But Reagan’s charm, relaxed demeanor, and attractive television
manner proved unbeatable and he swept to repeated primary victories,
winning nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National
Convention in Detroit on July 16. After an initial but failed attempt to
entice Gerald Ford to accept the vice presidential nomination, Reagan
chose Bush to complete the ticket. It seemed at first as though the cam-
paign might develop into a close race, but Reagan quickly pulled ahead,
attracting blue-collar workers who had traditionally voted Democratic
to join him in his conservative crusade to improve economic conditions
throughout the country.
The election itself provided an unexpected landslide for Reagan. In
fact, so complete was the victory from the outset of the counting that
Carter conceded the election before the polls closed on the West Coast.
Many candidates running for lesser offices in the west felt that they lost
as a result of Carter’s early concession because Democrats, knowing the
election was lost, failed to appear at the polls. Reagan took forty-three
states, including every southern state except Georgia, for a total of 489
electoral and 43 , 901 , 812 popular votes to Carter’s 6 states and the Dis-
trict of Columbia for a total 49 electoral and 35 , 483 , 820 popular votes.
The Republican Party also won control of the Senate, although
Democrats retained their majority in the House. Still, Republicans had
won thirty-three House seats, and because of the Dixie-Republican