1984: The Ticket

Can't forget who was #2...
Art: Robbie Conal

Campaign quotes from Paul Slansky, The Clothes Have No Emperor—

9/10 Obviously irritated that his slippery position on abortion has become an issue, Bush refuses to answer any more questions on the subject, citing "my right as an Amerian to remain silent."

9/12 "There are an awful lot of things I don't remember."
—George Bush denying that his failure to recall his previous support for abortion poses a credibility problem

9/17 George Bush continues to respond testily to questions about abortion. "My position is like Ronald Reagan's," he says. "Put that down, mark that down. Good. You got it."

9/25 "Do you know what wins elections? It's who puts money into this and who takes money out. And the one good reason why Ronald Reagan is going to be re-elected is because he's putting something in here and the other people are taking money out."
—George Bush whipping out his wallet at a campaign rally

9/26 "I was up in New England the other day, campaigning in Vermont, and I said, 'It's nice to be here in Vermont when the sap is running,' and one of the pickets stood up and said, 'Stop talking about Mondale like that.' "
—George Bush campaigning in Indiana

10/3 Complaining that he'd been "singled out" and "taken to the cleaners," George Bush acknowledges that he recently paid $198,000 in back taxes and interest after an audit of his 1981 tax return. And why hadn't he revealed this before, especially in light of Ferraro's problems? "You didn't ask me about it."

10/4 "I'm legally and every other way, emotionally, entitled to be what I want to be and that's what I want to be and that's what I am."
—George Bush explaining why he considers himself a Texan even though he was born in Massachusetts, grew up in Connecticut, lives in Washington and pays taxes in Maine

10/10 "She's too bitchy."
–Bush aide Peter Teeley assessing the Ferraro personality

10/11 Geraldine Ferraro and George Bush debate in Philadelphia, with Ferraro putting on a surprisingly low-key performance and Bush an alarmingly animated one. Since the culture values noise and movement over quiet reason, the instant media analysis gives him the victory, though it's hard to find anything he said to earn it. Quite the contrary:

"Almost every place you can point, contrary to Mr. Mondale's... how he goes around just saying everything bad. If somebody sees a silver lining, he finds a big black cloud out there. I mean, right on, whine on, harvest moon!"
...

"Let me help you with the difference, Mrs. Ferraro, between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon We went to Lebanon to give peace a chance and we did. We saw the formation of a government of reconciliation and for somebody to suggest, as our two opponents have, that these men died in shame—they better not tell the parents of those young Marines."
—George Bush introducing the fatuous charge that Mondale and Ferraro have dishonored the memories of the slain Marines by attacking administration policies responsible for their deaths

"I don't think it's winnable. I was quoted wrong, obviously, 'cause I never thought that."
—George Bush denying that he told journalist Robert Scheer that he thought nuclear war is "winnable," though Scheer has him on a 1980 tape saying just that

10/18 Defending George Bush's assertion that Mondale and Ferraro had implied that the 241 Marines killed in Beirut had "died in shame," press secretary Peter Teeley says, "You can say anything you want during a debate, and 80 million people hear it." And what if he print media can prove that he lied? "So what? Maybe 200 people read it or 2,000 or 20,000."

11/2 "Under this President's strong and principled leadership, America is back with pride, patriotism and prosperity. We're Number One, and there's a lot of idiots who don't know that."
—George Bush responding to hecklers at a New Jersey rally