Newspaper Page Text
THE RED AND BLACK
Athens, Ga. Vol. 92, No. 27
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia commurity
Wednesday, November 7, 1984
News 543-1809 Advertising 543-1791
Reagan buries Mondale under landslide
From The Associated Press
President Reagan swept to a land
slide victory over Walter F. Mondale
Tuesday night, taking command in
more than enough states to deliver a
runaway re-election
Reagan swept Georgia handily,
trouncing Mondale, the man who was
Jimmy Carter's vice president, in
Carter's own state
The Georgia vote, with reports from
1,207 of 2,404 precincts, was Reagan
418,266 or 58 percent; Mondale 301,168
or 42 percent.
The president got news of his victory
in Los Angeles, where he and his wife
w atched the returns in a Century Plaza
Hotel suite equipped with four
television sets
He told reporters he hoped to par
ticipate in a summit with the Soviet
Union during his second term in office.
Mondale conceded defeat, telephoned
his congratulations to Reagan and told
cheering supporters in St Paul, Minn.,
"He has won We are all Americans; he
is our president and we honor him
tonight ”
The president's victory was con
vincing ; he and Vice President George
Bush came close to the 50-state sweep
he sought Mondale and Geraldine Fer
raro won easily in the District of Colum
bia, and led in three states
captured the seat vacated by retiring
Republican leader Howard Baker
But Reagan's coattails were evident
in Kentucky, where Republican Mitch
McConnell upset two-term incumbent
Democratic Sen. Walter Huddleston
Kim slmaa/Thr Red and Black
Ensign Conklin celebrates at Republican headquarters
//wzA
RESULTS
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PRESIDENTIAL (48 percent of precincts
reporting)
Ronald Reagan: 58 percent or 44 states — 388
electoral votes
Walter Mondale: 41 percent — 3 electoral votes
(54 percent of precincts
SENATORIAL
reporting)
Sam Nunn: 619,390 — 84 percent
Mike Hicks: 121,752 —16 percent
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONER
(54 percent of precincts reporting)
To succeed Mac Barber:
Mac Barber: 402,987 — 63.4 percent
Joyce Carter: 231,694 — 36.5 percent
To succeed W.E. Lovett:
W.E. Lovett: 448,763 - 69.8percent
Jim Ernest McGraw, Jr. -193,908 - 30.1 percent
SHERIFF (100 percent of precincts reporting)
Jerry L. Massey: 14,406 — 82 percent
Don Autry: 2,989 —18 percent
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Reagan won 32 states with 309
electoral votes, led in 9 more with 114.
In The Associated Press count, the
electoral votes of South Dakota pushed
his total past the 270 majority mark
Democrats counted one Senate gain,
in Tennessee, where Rep Albert Gore
GOP Sen. Jesse Helms led in a bitter
race in North Carolina, another state
were Reagan held a lopsided margin
ABC said Helms had won Reagan and
Bush campaigned all fall as solid
favorites.
ABC interviews showed Reagan was
the favorite among Protestant and
Catholic voters, while Mondale was
favored by Jews The Democrat also
was ahead among unemployed voters
and those earning less than $10,000 a
year. The president was running ahead
among voters of all other income
brackets.
‘There is absolutely
nothing not to be
proud of.’
— Geraldine Ferraro
Mondale’s running mate, Geraldine
Ferraro, ended her historic candidacy,
calling it "a credible campaign
showing that women can run for
national office
"There is absolutely nothing not to be
proud of," she said as the returns were
counted. “No one should shed any
tears."
Reagan came close to 50-state sweep
Republicans cheer election ‘dream’
By JILL CORSON
Red and Black \narlalf Nmi Editor
ATLANTA-About 400 euphoric
Republican supporters crammed into a
room at the Powers Ferry Holiday Inn
and cheered wildly when Pres. Reagan
and George Bush's landslide victory
was announced Tuesday night
“This is a once-in a lifetime dream,”
said Colin Martin, a University
freshman and executive director of the
campus chapter of Students for
America
“I made a bet that Reagan would
sweep all 50 states, so I hope he does,”
Martin said early in the evening.
Republicans from all over the state
met in the Powers Ferry room to "eat,
drink, be merry and watch Reagan beat
Mondale on TV,” said Richard Jeffer
son, a Georgia Tech student
George Israel, the mayor of Macon,
and the Georgia Reagan/Bush '84
chairman, said he was relieved Tues
day night.
"Ater 10 months of campaigning. I'm
23 pounds lighter,” Israel said,
laughing
At about 8:30 p.m., Israel said
Republican votes had exceeded his
earlier estimates, and that Reagan's
sleeve was pulling in Republican votes
for state races
"It's incredible." he said. "We’re go
ing to get a minimum of 25 seats."
Georgia Republican Sen Bob Bell,
the chairman of the state Republican
party, said it’s been difficult to elect
Republicans in the state on the strength
of the presidential ticket
"The Democrats are very clever in
Georgia," Bell said. "They've done
everything they can to prevent the coat
tail effect. We have to vote twice, they
don't allow party registration and there
is gerrymandering in districts. All
three of these things mitigate against a
landslide.”
Bell said, "We're trying to create a
coattail effect, but there isn't really a
two-party system to speak of in
Georgia Take Athens, Gwinnett Coun
ty and Cobb County — there are people
moving in for the industrial develop
ment and the teaching opportunities at
the University. Many have brought a
Republican tradition with them and
may not be active in local races, but
they're active in the presidential race."
Bell said that more people were
becoming Republican in the state than
ever before, and that except for Jimmy
Carter, Georgia hadn’t voted for a
Democratic presidential candidate
since 1960
College Republican, was one of several
students who made the trip from
Athens.
"I wanted to be here for the biggest
party in the state." Wald said
After the Republicans won the state
electoral vote, Wald said, "This shows
maturity on the part of Georgia voters
They don't have to vote Democratic
just because their great-great- grand
father was in the Civil War.”
Dan Mitchell, a University graduate
student said. "It's about time the
American people rejected the parasite
of liberal Democracy."
Helms, conservatives
ride Reagan’s coattails
‘This is a once-in-a-
lifetime dream. ’
— Colin Martin
Israel said the state will become
more Republican because the party’s
strongest support comes from people
under 18
"In the last presidential election the
strongest voting block was between 18
and 25," Israel said. "The kids are
more conservative than their parents."
Girls from Girl Scout Troop 324 from
Atlanta came to the party to work on
their Junior Citizen badges, said Bever
ly Elliott, the troop leader.
The girls watched Sondly Matthews,
a Republican volunteer, paint in states
that Reagan won, as they were televis
ed, on a 15-foot wall map of the United
States.
"They're going to run out of paint,"
said Robyn Crusselle, 10, as Matthews
painted Michigan.
Tyll Wald, a University junior and a
By JOHN ALDEN and
TOMMY TOMLINSON
Krd and Black Hcakor Reporter*
Several congressional candidates
across the country rode the crest of
Ronald Reagan's conservative wave
into Washington Tuesday night, up
setting Democratic incumbents and
ensuring continued control of the
Senate for the GOP
In the most hotly contested Senate
race in the nation, incumbent North
Carolina Senator Jesse Helms led
Democratic challenger James Hunt by
a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent
NBC projected Helms the winner at
9:45 p.m Tuesday night, though Hunt
was given a slim chance to recover on
the basis of some precincts that had not
reported yet.
Illinois Sen. Charles Percy, the
chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee and a close ally to
President Reagan, mednwhile was
facing stiff opposition from former
Illinois Democratic Congressman Paul
Simon for the Senate seat in Illinois. If
Percy loses his seat, Helms could move
into the chairmanship of the Foreign
Relations Committee, one of the key
committees in the Senate.
In Georgia, the President’s coattails
threatened to overturn the
congressional career of five-term
District 4 Congressman Elliott Levitas.
Republican challenger Pat Swindall,
who appeared near the end of the
campaign in several commercials with
a fatherly President Reagan, was
closing fast on Levitas
At 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Levitas had a
slim lead over Swindall. with around 33
percent of the precincts reporting.
One bright spot for the Democrats
was in Tennessee, where Albert Gore,
Jr. captured the Senate seat vacated by
^ecTio* , e<>
Senate
retiring Republican Senate Majority
Leader Howard Baker
In traditionally liberal,
Massachusetts, Vietnam veteran and
former Lieutenant Governor John
Kerry, a Democrat, defeated
Republican businessman Kay Shamie
for the Senate seat of retiring Democrat
Paul Tsongas, who decided not to run
because of health problems.
The Associated Press projected at
10:30 p.m that the Senate would
remain under Republican control with
at least 51 seats going to Republicans
Thirty-three total seats were up for
election.
The Associated Press reported that,
across the nation, Republicans were
making inroads in the 99-seat majority
of the Democrats in the House otf
Representatives.
Demos stay optimistic
about state elections
v _ . _ , , ftrfcwirtj TV Rrrl and Black
Young Mondale supporters mourn at Cabana Hotel
By CAMILLE STURDIVANT
Red and HI*, k Mentor Kepsirler
ATLANTA-Early reports of a Reagan
victory did not seem to dampen the
spirits of the Democratic victory party
in Atlanta, as campaign workers still
clung to hopes of winning state elec
tions.
“How can I be depressed' I expected
this," one young Democratic supporter
said Tuesday night
About 75 Democratic supporters,
including 5th District Rep Wyche
Fowler, Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young,
former Atlanta Mayor Maynard
Jackson and Democratic Party
Chairman Bert Lance gathered at the
Atlanta Cabana Hotel to watch the
returns on TV.
Campaign worker Susan Millen said,
"If everyone voted like labor did, we'd
have Mondale for president right now
"I'm not going to feel guilty for all the
crap we're going to get during the next
four years," she added, saying she feels
that she had done a good job getting
people out to vote, especially in light of
the fact that 71 percent of Atlanta union
members voted for Mondale, according
to exit polls
Few Mondale supporters at the party
offered explanations for why the
election was such a landslide, but
campaign worker Linda James blamed
Mondale's loss on the national news
media
"The national press was definitely
biased." James said. "Thanks to the
press, Mondale last before he started."
Another campaigner said, "I'm
depressed, but I'm not giving up hope
The early projections are depressing,
but I'm proud of what we've done. I’m
proud of Georgia ."
Fowler said, "Georgia has never
gone traditionally Democratic in
presidential elections,” citing the
results from the 1972 and 1976
presidential elections.
However, Fowler did say that
coattails probably would not have much
effect in Georgia
“Definitely not I don't think there is
any question about it," he said.
Other Democrats seemed as con
fident as Fowler that the state and local
elections would go to the Democrat*.
When the District of Columbia results
came in with Mondale's first three
Electoral College votes, the crowd
cheered.
As they came in. Mondale’s few
victories in selected Georgia districts
were received by an enthusiastic
crowd
Mondale supporters said they
wouldn't let early predictions of a
record number of Electoral College
votes for Reagan ruin their celebration.
They said they are proud of their
efforts and, as one spirited campaigner
said, "There's another election in four
years and Reagan won't be around
then”