Presidential Primaries and Caucuses: The 1984 Democratic Party Super Tuesday Primaries
In recent memory, the phrase "Super Tuesday" has come to refer to a Tuesday on which a large number of states hold their primaries or caucuses, resulting in the largest number of delegates being awarded to candidates during primary season. The two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, formally choose their presidential candidates in nominating conventions attended by delegates from states. Today, state law determines how each parties' delegates are chosen in each state by either a primary election or a caucus and on what date those contests are held. States didn't always choose their convention delegates in this manner, but ober time, the process has evolved such that the parties have tried to take the delegate selection power away from party establishment or bosses in the states, and put it in the hands of voters.
The 1984 primary season seems to be the one in which the phrase "Super Tuesdays" was commonly used. There were actually three "Super Tuesdays", but the third being the day when delegates from just five states were selected: South Dakota, New Mexico, West Virginia, California and New Jersey. (In contrast, this year fourteen states will select their delegates on Super Tuesday, will be held on March 3rd: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.)
During the 1984 primary season, only three candidates won any state primaries: Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, and Jesse Jackson. Former Vice President Mondale was considered as the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. Mondale had the largest number of party leaders supporting him, and he had raised more money than any other candidate. However, as history has shown, being considered as the front runner is often seen as a challenge by those wishing to balk at the wishes of party establishment and as a result, both Jackson and Hart became surprising and pesky opponents for Mondale.
Jackson was the second African-American to run a nationwide campaign for the presidency, and the first to be seen as a serious contender. He ended up receiving over 3.5 million votes during the primaries, finishing third behind Hart and Mondale. He managed to win Washington DC, South Carolina, and Louisiana, and split Mississippi, where there were two separate contests for Democratic delegates. What was especially significant about Jackson's campaign in the primaries, was that it confirmed the importance of African-American voters to the Democratic Party in the South at the time. Jackson's campaign was harmed that year when the candidate made an off-handed remark in which he reffered to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown". He later apologized for the remark, but his statement was widely publicized, and harmed his campaign, especially as the New York Primary approached. Jackson ended up winning 21% of the national primary vote but received only 8% of the delegates to the national convention. He blamed party rules that he claimed allowed Mondale to win. He was critical of Mondale, stating that Hubert Humphrey was the "last significant politician out of the St. Paul-Minneapolis" area.
Colorado Senator Gary Hart was not well-known at the time that he announced his candidacy in February of 1983. At first he barely received above 1% in the polls. To counter his lack of name recognition, Hart started campaigning early in New Hampshire, making what was then an unprecedented tour of the state in late September, five months before the primary. This strategy drew national media attention to his campaign. By late 1983, he had risen in the polls to the middle of the pack, gaining support from the failing campaigns of Senators John Glenn of Ohio and Alan Cranston of California. Mondale easily won the Iowa caucus in late February, but Hart did better than expected, receiving 16%. A week later, in the New Hampshire primary, he shocked much of the party establishment and the media by defeating Mondale by ten percentage points. Hart instantly became considered to be the main challenger to Mondale for the nomination.
Hart called Mondale an "old-fashioned" Great Society Democrat who symbolized the "failed policies" of the past. He presented himself as a younger, fresher, and more moderate alternative for Democrats and said that he was someone who could appeal to younger voters. His momentum grew as he won the Ohio and California primaries as well as several others, especially in the West.
But Hart could not overcome Mondale's financial and organizational advantages. Mondale had the support of labor union leaders in the Midwest and industrial Northeast. Hart was also badly hurt during a televised debate when Mondale used a popular television commercial slogan to ridicule Hart's vague "New Ideas" platform. Turning to Hart on camera, Mondale said that whenever he heard Hart talk about his "New Ideas", he was reminded of the Wendy's fast-food slogan "Where's the beef?". The remark drew loud laughter and applause from the audience and Hart appeared to be caught off-guard. Lacking any witty comeback, Hart never seemed to full recovered from Mondale's charge that his "New Ideas" were shallow and lacking in specifics.
In the same Democratic primary debate, Hart was asked what he would do if an unidentified airplane flew over the Iron Curtain from a Warsaw Pact nation. Hart replied that he would send up a United States Air Force plane and instruct them to determine whether or not it was an enemy plane by looking in the cockpit window to see if the pilots were wearing uniforms. Fellow candidate John Glenn, a former Marine Corps fighter pilot, replied that this was physically impossible.
At another debate, a round table event between the three remaining Democratic candidates (Mondale, Hart and Jackson) moderated by Phil Donahue, Mondale and Hart got in a heated argument over the issue of U.S. policy in Central America. Jackson tapped his water glass on the table and told the two men to simmer down.
As Hart began to lose momentum, Mondale gradually pulled away from Hart in the delegate count. The race was not decided until June, on what was dubbed as "Super Tuesday III". On that day delegates from five states were chosen: South Dakota, New Mexico, West Virginia, and the big prizes of California and New Jersey. The proportional nature of delegate selection meant that Mondale was likely to obtain enough delegates on that day to secure the stated support of an overall majority of delegates, no matter who actually "won" the states contested. But Hart presented the message that unpledged "superdelegates" that had previously claimed they would support Mondale, would change to his side if he swept the Super Tuesday III primaries. During the campaign, Hart offended New Jersey voters shortly before the primary when, while campaigning in California, he remarked that while the "bad news" was that he and his wife Lee had to campaign separately, but "the good news for her is that she campaigns in California while I campaign in New Jersey." When his wife interjected and said that she "got to hold a koala bear," Hart replied that "I won't tell you what I got to hold: samples from a toxic-waste dump."
Hart won California, he lost New Jersey after leading in polls by as much as 15 points. Hart won South Dakota and New Mexico, while Mondale won in West Virginia. By the time the Democratic Convention started in San Francisco Mondale had more than enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
However, after Mondale's humiliating loss to Ronald Reagan in the 1984 Presidential election, Gary Hart would quickly emerge as the front-runner for the Democratic Party's 1988 presidential nomination. He would maintain that status until a sex scandal derailed his candidacy in 1987.
The 1984 primary season seems to be the one in which the phrase "Super Tuesdays" was commonly used. There were actually three "Super Tuesdays", but the third being the day when delegates from just five states were selected: South Dakota, New Mexico, West Virginia, California and New Jersey. (In contrast, this year fourteen states will select their delegates on Super Tuesday, will be held on March 3rd: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.)
During the 1984 primary season, only three candidates won any state primaries: Walter Mondale, Gary Hart, and Jesse Jackson. Former Vice President Mondale was considered as the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. Mondale had the largest number of party leaders supporting him, and he had raised more money than any other candidate. However, as history has shown, being considered as the front runner is often seen as a challenge by those wishing to balk at the wishes of party establishment and as a result, both Jackson and Hart became surprising and pesky opponents for Mondale.
Jackson was the second African-American to run a nationwide campaign for the presidency, and the first to be seen as a serious contender. He ended up receiving over 3.5 million votes during the primaries, finishing third behind Hart and Mondale. He managed to win Washington DC, South Carolina, and Louisiana, and split Mississippi, where there were two separate contests for Democratic delegates. What was especially significant about Jackson's campaign in the primaries, was that it confirmed the importance of African-American voters to the Democratic Party in the South at the time. Jackson's campaign was harmed that year when the candidate made an off-handed remark in which he reffered to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown". He later apologized for the remark, but his statement was widely publicized, and harmed his campaign, especially as the New York Primary approached. Jackson ended up winning 21% of the national primary vote but received only 8% of the delegates to the national convention. He blamed party rules that he claimed allowed Mondale to win. He was critical of Mondale, stating that Hubert Humphrey was the "last significant politician out of the St. Paul-Minneapolis" area.
Colorado Senator Gary Hart was not well-known at the time that he announced his candidacy in February of 1983. At first he barely received above 1% in the polls. To counter his lack of name recognition, Hart started campaigning early in New Hampshire, making what was then an unprecedented tour of the state in late September, five months before the primary. This strategy drew national media attention to his campaign. By late 1983, he had risen in the polls to the middle of the pack, gaining support from the failing campaigns of Senators John Glenn of Ohio and Alan Cranston of California. Mondale easily won the Iowa caucus in late February, but Hart did better than expected, receiving 16%. A week later, in the New Hampshire primary, he shocked much of the party establishment and the media by defeating Mondale by ten percentage points. Hart instantly became considered to be the main challenger to Mondale for the nomination.
Hart called Mondale an "old-fashioned" Great Society Democrat who symbolized the "failed policies" of the past. He presented himself as a younger, fresher, and more moderate alternative for Democrats and said that he was someone who could appeal to younger voters. His momentum grew as he won the Ohio and California primaries as well as several others, especially in the West.
But Hart could not overcome Mondale's financial and organizational advantages. Mondale had the support of labor union leaders in the Midwest and industrial Northeast. Hart was also badly hurt during a televised debate when Mondale used a popular television commercial slogan to ridicule Hart's vague "New Ideas" platform. Turning to Hart on camera, Mondale said that whenever he heard Hart talk about his "New Ideas", he was reminded of the Wendy's fast-food slogan "Where's the beef?". The remark drew loud laughter and applause from the audience and Hart appeared to be caught off-guard. Lacking any witty comeback, Hart never seemed to full recovered from Mondale's charge that his "New Ideas" were shallow and lacking in specifics.
In the same Democratic primary debate, Hart was asked what he would do if an unidentified airplane flew over the Iron Curtain from a Warsaw Pact nation. Hart replied that he would send up a United States Air Force plane and instruct them to determine whether or not it was an enemy plane by looking in the cockpit window to see if the pilots were wearing uniforms. Fellow candidate John Glenn, a former Marine Corps fighter pilot, replied that this was physically impossible.
At another debate, a round table event between the three remaining Democratic candidates (Mondale, Hart and Jackson) moderated by Phil Donahue, Mondale and Hart got in a heated argument over the issue of U.S. policy in Central America. Jackson tapped his water glass on the table and told the two men to simmer down.
As Hart began to lose momentum, Mondale gradually pulled away from Hart in the delegate count. The race was not decided until June, on what was dubbed as "Super Tuesday III". On that day delegates from five states were chosen: South Dakota, New Mexico, West Virginia, and the big prizes of California and New Jersey. The proportional nature of delegate selection meant that Mondale was likely to obtain enough delegates on that day to secure the stated support of an overall majority of delegates, no matter who actually "won" the states contested. But Hart presented the message that unpledged "superdelegates" that had previously claimed they would support Mondale, would change to his side if he swept the Super Tuesday III primaries. During the campaign, Hart offended New Jersey voters shortly before the primary when, while campaigning in California, he remarked that while the "bad news" was that he and his wife Lee had to campaign separately, but "the good news for her is that she campaigns in California while I campaign in New Jersey." When his wife interjected and said that she "got to hold a koala bear," Hart replied that "I won't tell you what I got to hold: samples from a toxic-waste dump."
Hart won California, he lost New Jersey after leading in polls by as much as 15 points. Hart won South Dakota and New Mexico, while Mondale won in West Virginia. By the time the Democratic Convention started in San Francisco Mondale had more than enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination.
However, after Mondale's humiliating loss to Ronald Reagan in the 1984 Presidential election, Gary Hart would quickly emerge as the front-runner for the Democratic Party's 1988 presidential nomination. He would maintain that status until a sex scandal derailed his candidacy in 1987.