This week i was assigned the topic of the 1964 election. The nominees for the 1964 elections were Democrate Lyndon B. Johnson (who was running for re-election) and Republican Barry Goldwater. The election of 1964 is unlike most in the way that it was sixth most lopsided victory in history. Lyndon B. Johnson got re-elected by a land slide.
Lyndon B. Johnson was a conservative and Barry Goldwater was a Liberal. During the election the media coverage was not over big issues going on in America at that time. Instead, the media focused more on the canidates personality and how they would deal with certian issues that may arise in the future. Unlike today, the media was usually respectful of the canidates responses and strategy.
There are quite a few reasons why Johnson won the election of 1964. In that time period presidents running for re-election got good news coverage. News coverage and advertising was especially good in this time because of the great economy and sympathy of John F Kennedy who passed away recently to the election. Johnson aslo had good odds because he was running against a weak canidate who's party was split.
Barry Goldwater just had a tough time getting started in the election. People already liked Johnson and the thought he did a good job his last term so Goldwater had a tough time convincing people that he was the right man for the job. A real big factor in the out come of this election was the division of the Republican party. Some people of the Republican party didnt even vote because they didnt want to vote for a canidate who they did not like.
Just to give you an idea of how much Johnson won by he recieved 486 electoral votes compared to Goldwater's 52. Johnson beat Goldwater in Popular Votes 43,127,041 to 27,175,754. Personaly im glad Johnson got re-elected mostly because im a democrate. I think Johnson was confident going into the election. The economy was great and everything was going good for Johnson im glad that he won.
Sources
http://inspectionsticker.net/images/1964%20%20Lyndon%20Johnson.bmp
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