University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Victory ' 84 Daily accounts of the campaign were front page news at the print media, and television helped build up and break down each candidate for the public. Time magazine played a major role in getting the complete campaign coverage to Americans. According to one Time reporter, The election was dominated, first to last, by four P ' s: Prosperity, Peace, Patriotism and Personality. When America voted on Nov. 6, 1984, there was not much doubt about who would win. The question of many was would Ronald Reagan win by a landslide. The answer was a resounding Yes. Reagan carried 49 states and received 525 electoral votes as compared to Mon- dale ' s 13 electoral votes. These results expressed the mood of a nation rallying behind a president who had built up the Walter Mondale made headlines by bringing hemlines to the executive campaign trail. Geraldine Farraro, a New York congresswoman, was the first female candidate for vice president. Photo by Cris Rouroncle Derrick Dolls and IT cheerleaders were on hand to present cowboy hata to President Reagan and Vice President George Bush. The Dolls were cheerleaders for the Houston Oilers. Photo by Cris Bouroncle Debate raged in the Texas Union Nov. 6 as election returns came in. One student, Kevin Lewis, a Plan II sophomore, was cut by a thrown beer bottle as taunts turned to violence. Photo by Marci Doane economy, the military and the national pride. And with no re-election worries, Reagan ruffled feathers by vetoing a farm aid bill in February and lobbying intensely for the MX missile before arms talks with the Soviet Union. The president created his own challenge, though: America ' s best days are yet to come. You ain ' t seen nothin ' yet. Young and old alike came to Austin political rallies. Reagan campaigners marshaled their strongest efforts to swing Texas to the Republicans. Photo by Cris Houroncle v . 54 National Campaign

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I Texas is Un-Reaganable was just one sign that sprouted up during the candidates ' swings through Austin. Photo by Cris Bouroncle Mo ' Ron and Fritzbusters were on the tongues and car bumpers of Americans everywhere. On campus, bumper stickers and but- tons were passed out by the thousands. Students kept up with the issues by at- tending the many rallies and debates across the campus sponsored by Univer- sity organiz ations such as the Young Republicans, the University Democrats and Texas College Republicans. Many students also took an active part in the election by volunteering their time at phone banks and campaign head- quarters, and by walking the precincts distributing election propaganda. Among the issues of the presidential campaign were the economy, the large deficit, national defense and abortion rights. Reagan ' s past four years gave America an improved economy, reduced inflation and a brighter outlook for future prosperity. He also gave America its largest deficit in history, and no clear cut plan on how to reduce that figure. ustin ' n preHH corps was out in force at political events The media wanted to report first-hand the events of the campaign. Photo by Cris Bouroncle National Campaign 53

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NOW THE PRLSS IS RAISING THE ISSUE. A.GAIU. 5AYING IM TOO OLD . AND THAT MY MIND THE DEBA TE. MY JI MATCH AY WITS WITH THE BEST OF TUEM YOJ tx 4T THSV IM TOO OLD, r VoubeAR? OH. RONALD YOU ' KE GETTING YOG ' RE 3UST GETTTlHCr BETTER WUY I 3UST DON ' T KWO J WHAT lt TX WITHOUT Cracks about ReaganV n vised debates. At 74, Reaynn reUi wouldn ' t criticize Mundult ' .- . : ,i n,-i- perience. Cartoon by ML Gerry: a race for the books by MAKCIA CROOK As the first woman nominated for vice president by a major party, (ieraldine Ferraro met the challenge of her historic selection. Virtually unknown before being chosen as Walter Mondale ' s runn- ing mate, many people wondered how this lawyer, mother and three-term congresswoman from Queens County, N.Y., would be able to stand up to the rigors of na- tional politics. Not only was Ferraro running for national office, she was running lor th e history books. According to her press secretary, Francis O ' Brien, No woman will ever again have to be tested on so many fronts ... If she had ever commit- ted the mistakes that George Bush made, she ' d have been finished in a day. The hardest test came early in the campaign, after Ferraro had promised full disclosure of her and her husband ' s finances and then decided not to make them public. By the time her husband, John Zaccaro, changed his mind and the details were disclosed, the damage had already been done. After three grueling months of campaigning, and the agoni ing defeat on Nov. 6, Ferraro conclud- ed that the damage to her family had been so great that if (lod had said to me ' (lerry. here ' s a videotape of the next three mon- ths, ' I probably would have said, No ' . Although the campaign did take its toll, il was more than a defeat of a presidential candidate and his running mate; it was a history- making victory for the women of America. A Capitol rally gave former Vice President Walter Mondale the chance to get to know Texas voters. Texas voters, failed to respond, voting Republican. Photo by Crig Bouroncle National Campaign 55