The Goal: A Landslide

Reagan pads his margin while Mondale tries to buffer his party

For more than two years, he had run and run. He had stumped in more cities, slept in more hotel beds, flown more miles, spoken more words than any other presidential candidate in history. Now, sitting in his shirtsleeves in a Milwaukee hotel last week, Mondale got the bad news: barring a miracle, his long quest for the White House was over.

The grim tidings came in the form of polling results read to him by James Johnson, his campaign chairman. The unflappable Johnson...

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