RIP Walter Mondale, 93, former VP and Senator from Minnesota

[Astronuc]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost one of the most lopsided presidential elections after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday. He was 93.

The death of the former senator, ambassador and Minnesota attorney general was announced in a statement from his family. No cause was cited.

Mondale followed the trail blazed by his political mentor, Hubert H. Humphrey, from Minnesota politics to the U.S. Senate and the vice presidency, serving under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.

He made history with his selection of Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York as his VP running mate. He was the first major-party presidential nominee to put a woman on the ticket. But his intentions to raise taxes led to one ofthe most lopsided losses in a presidential election. On Election Day, Mondale carried only his home state and the District of Columbia. The electoral vote was 525-13 for Reagan — the biggest landslide in the Electoral College since Franklin Roosevelt defeated Alf Landon in 1936! Even George McGovern got 17 electoral votes in his 1972 loss.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/19/vice-president-walter-mondale-dies-036254

 

[mathwonk]

As I am sure you know, his statement was roughly that there was going to be a tax increase no matter who won, and that he at least would own up to it in advance. The prediction was accurate, but spectacularly unstrategic, as you point out.