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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 9, 1984
PAGE 5
were very greatly inspiring and your live message on the first
day gave me the desire to keep going.
v.c. (Orlando, FL)
We had a very wonderful Feast at Biloxi, Mississippi. I'11 be
looking forward to next year's Feast all during next year. I've
found out that the more one serves at the Feast, the more one gets
out of this special time. I feel more a part of the Church when I
can serve. Thank you so much for pointing the truth out to us and
what this very special time represents.
ON THE WORLD SCENE
D.G. (Cottondale, FL)
--Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center
THE REAGAN LANDSLIDE: "SUPERTERRORISM;" THE SOVIETS
CHALLENGE THE PRESIDENT: CAMPAIGN HUMOR
On November 6, President Ronald Reagan swept to the landslide that nearly
all the pollsters predicted was coming. He captured nearly 60% of the popu
lar vot� and a record high number of electoral votes, 525. Mr. Reagan's
victory was unusually broad-based: the majorities of young people, the eld
erly (supposedly frightened by cuts in social spending), farmers, women
(what gender gap?), Catholics (once solidly Democratic), and Protestants.
Hispanic voters, a so-called "interest group" heavily courted by the
Democratic Party, nearly went for Mr. Reagan as well. They gave him 47% of
their votes, up from 22% in 1980. The President carried every income group
down to $10,000--and nearly took the $5,000 to $10,000 bracket.
Democratic challenger Walter Mondale was simply unable to counter the tide
of economic well-being in the country. He was left with big majorities only
among black, Jewish (worried over the "religious right"), feminist, jobless
and lowest income groups. His campaign promise to raise taxes (to reduce
the huge deficit) went over like the proverbial lead balloon.
Mr. Reagan's "coattails"--the ability to sweep your party's Congressional
candidates along with you--were not as long as he had hoped; only a net gain
of sixteen in the House of Representatives (a race or two still undecided),
with an actual loss of two in the 100-seat Senate. One major reason for the
continued good showing of the Democratic Party in the House is the fact that
Democratic candidates worked feverishly in their own campaigns to distance
themselves from the national ticket that they knew was doomed.
Their
strategy was to stress local issues while saying "Walter who?" The WALL
STREET JOURNAL, on November 8, analyzed the Democratic dilemma as follows:
The fact is, there are two Democratic parties. The one that runs
candidates for president is in deep trouble. The other one, the
one that runs people for the Senate and the House and for almost
every other office in the land, is reasonably healthy. What the
Democrats have to do is figure out how they can choose a presi
dential candidate who can do more than carry his home state and
the District of Columbia.
This won't be easy, for the national party has become the citadel of radical
personalities and issues, out of sync with the national character of the