1980 and 2008...Mirror Elections?

The election of 1980 is the election that correlates most exactly with the current election coming up in 2008. There are many similar aspects to the elections that make them similar.
1980 serves as a fresh political stage for America. Both Kennedy and Nixon were not running again and the stage was set for new candidates to emerge. The Republicans put Ronald Reagan and the Democrats nominated Jimmy Carter. Both parties went through a very long nomination process that is very similar to that of the current 2008 election, on the Democratic side. le. In 1980, 6 candidates were contenders for the Presidential nomination on the Democratic side; John Connally, Bob Dole, Howard Baker, John Anderson, George Bush and Ronald Reagan and 2 candidates were up on the Republican side; Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy. Most of the candidates dropped out as the primary season went along, leaving only 3; Reagan, Bush and Anderson. Anderson did not drop out of the race, but rather decided to put himself on an independent third party ticket (but did not win, because third party systems do not win in American.) Regan was very convinced he was going to win the nomination so he chose to claim momentum and not campaign, but got competition when Bush beat im in Ohio. The two candidates battles it out until New Hampshire, where he proved to have more delegates going into the Republican convention. In the end, Reagan received the nomination and asked Bush to be his running mate. On the Democratic side, they nominated Jimmy Carter for the Presidential candidate, but not after a long fight. Jimmy Carter received intense opposition from Ted Kennedy, who proved to be a feisty opponent to the end. Ted Kennedy put up a strong opposition in the primary fight, but Carterended up running away with the nomination for three reasons; Kennedy’s mudslide interview, Nashua and the Iranian hostage crisis and Revolution (rally around the flag effect). Kennedy did not endorse Carter’s nomination so there was obviously a bitter sentiment to the end.
This situation is very similar to the situation going on in the election right now, on the Democratic side. John McCain easily won the Republican nomination and has already started his Presidential campaing instead of continuing on the primary course. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are continuing to battle it out late into the eprimary season, just like all the candidates in the 1980 election. The long primary process that requires so much energy and funds that it takes away from the energy that neds to be devoted to the Presidential race. Carter ended up going slightly crazy at the end of the election, as cam be speculated about Hillary Clinton right now, who is sucking down whiskey shots without chasers on national television. The primary process ending at the convention is exactly what is going to happen this year, because there will be no clear winner after the primary process this year, but rather it will be up to the delegates and the super delegates to decide who gets the nomination. This primary process was one of the first to be so long in history that involved multiple candidates to the very end, as does this years election.
On a personal level, Barak Obama is a similar candidate to Ronald Reagan, or the Teflon President. Although Barak has been associated with many bad situations, like that of his pastor, he his reputation has not been tainted by that. Ronald Reagan has a nice habit of making ethnic jokes in public and was encouraged to stay away from the microphone.
The rhetoric in this election was to pick the lesser of two evils, which this election in 2008 might come down to. It could quite possible come down to voting for who you hate less. The economic situation in both elections is similar, with inflation and unemployment rates almost exact to those of today, because of price control back then and a growing debt today because of wartime expenses. There was no incumbent in the election, as there is not today, but there is a pubic sentiment from the previous presidency that could urge people to change politically. The election ended up being very close, as this election will most likely be in more than one way. The Democratic candidate nomination will most likely be very close, deicded by a small amount of delegates and then the final Presidential election will be close because of split sentiment in the country. These elections, 1980 and 2004 are by far the most similar in history.