To what extent can Reagan's electoral victory in 1980 be put down to the rise of the new right?
To what extent can Reagan's electoral victory in 1980 be put down to the rise of the new right?
1980’s America saw a boom in a new group of hard-line Christians; known as the ‘new right’, a powerful group of republican evangelicals set on restoring the American morals of old (with somewhat a very archaic mindset for example no equality for homosexuals etc.) This group took a very strong liking to Reagan and his strong Christian moral conservatism and thus earned him millions of votes in the election of 1980. Was Reagan’s victory largely down to the rise of the new right? Or were there other more prominent factors, which lead to Reagan's victory?
In 1980s America TV could be used as a powerful political tool, 67% of American's received 100% of all there news from the television, this clearly showing if televised speeches, debate and propaganda were used correctly it could be a direct, simple and powerful method to connect with the people- winning over the votes of millions of American's. Reagan executed all his televised appearances like a professional (he was an ex-Hollywood ‘star’ which definitely helped immensely,) ‘he could read an autocue like a professional’. Also his personal traits were key – portraying himself as a ‘physically attractive and charming man who was gracious and polite’ this again helped him as all those were key and made Reagan a much more likeable person. Furthermore, Reagan also worked with general electric in the 60’s where he was in charge of the TV shows; he also gained valuable electioneering skills during the job, as he had to meet thousands of people daily, also giving unrehearsed speeches to hundreds. The job handed him with a perfect chance to groom his campaigning skills to a respectable audience of 700,000, which was tiny compared to the people of America but still a good start, where he learnt how to be a people person and how to work the TV. In contrast to this his main opponent - incumbent president, Jimmy Carter was quite the opposite to the charming, attractive Reagan. He delivered his ‘crisis of confidence’ speech where he found it easy to find problems but couldn’t seem to deliver any solutions. This again showed Reagan’s superiority in these areas where he delivered short and direct targets such as reviving American strength in the world once again. This again gained him popularity as it gave the people something to look forward to and it showed he meant business unlike the passive carter.
