It’s 1980 all over again The Democrats didn’t understand Ronald Reagan, and they don’t get Trump - Wash. Times

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It’s 1980 all over again

The Democrats didn’t understand Ronald Reagan, and they don’t get Trump

 By Donna Wiesner Keene - - Wednesday, November 9, 2016

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Last night as the returns rolled in and the network cameras focused on disbelieving Clinton supporters in New York, I thought back to the reaction I witnessed in 1980 as President Jimmy Carter’s staff and advisers grappled with the news that their man was actually losing to Ronald Reagan.

It was a deja vu moment because back then, I was an executive assistant manager of the new Sheraton Washington Hotel, now the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, the largest D.C. hotel of its time. One of my duties was “hall roamer” and “brush fire manager.” I alerted room service to empty trays in the guest room halls, begged managers to keep restaurants open when meetings ran over, and one Christmas Eve, woke the resident manager when an icicle punctured the large glass lobby roofline.

President Carter, Gov. Ronald Reagan and Rep. John Anderson, the candidates that year, were frequent guests, entering the hotel through private entrances where I would be standing by to handle any problems that might arise. As a result, I saw or met the candidates and staff many times and, like a fly on the wall, overheard hundreds of snippets of their conversations.

The hotel was Democratic election night headquarters in 1980. As the night wore on, Carter staff crowded elevators, disappointed, then unbelieving, then hysterical, almost raving about how “the people just didn’t get it.”

As the evening progressed, the downstairs staff cafeteria filled with employees who did not want to leave. A rowdy bunch under any circumstances, we became more and more jovial on free coffee, tea and soda as Reagan, the know-nothing actor from California of all places, swept state after state.

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