[BbzzbB]

Is it one side of the aisle that hates Carter? Because from what I've seen/read from the outside (Canada) looking in, I saw nothing but praise for his humility and humanity. I saw conflicting opinions on what he did or didn't do during his tenure, but only positive with regards to his person and character.

[StevePerkins]

Well, he DID face a 1980 primary challenge from Edward Kennedy, and barely won his own party's re-nomination with 51.1% of the popular vote as a sitting President. He was pretty well eviscerated by both the left and right a decade or two back, when he published a book labeling Israel's policy toward Palestine as "apartheid".

Speaking as a left-leaning resident of Georgia, it seems obvious to me that Jimmy Carter is not all that well-loved by his own political party:

* Part of this is because he made the mistake of bringing his own people when he went to Washington, instead of populating his administration with more federal insiders.

* Part of it is because he lost, and no one likes a loser (I'd say that Carter's place in the Democratic Part is similar to that of George H.W. Bush, without the legacy of an heir going on to serve two terms).

* And I believe that part of it is because, on the heels of the Civil Rights Act and the re-alignment it ushered in, Democrats were never all that genuinely enthusiastic about having a white Southern leader. It took 12 years of futility for them to embrace Bill Clinton (see point above, about how people more fondly remember Presidents who win re-election). And even Clinton's legacy has picked up a lot of tarnish over the past decade.

[sixothree]

Yes. Even to this day, high praise for Nixon and Reagan; and nothing but utter contempt for Carter. More telling of the people laying the condemnation than of the man himself.

[christophilus]

Not sure. I was raised by conservatives (albeit somewhat middle of the road) and they and most conservatives I’ve chatted with really admire Carter as a person; just thought he was an incompetent president.

My childhood church group (all Republicans, I’d guess) used to build houses with Habitat. It’s kinda hard to think poorly of Carter when he built something that does so much good.

I wonder if the loud, vitriolic right wingers make it seem like the right thinks as a united, extreme block, when maybe there’s a large, quiet group that is not well represented? Not sure. I may also just be in a bubble of reasonable centrists. My left wing and right wing friends are pretty centrist in my estimation.

[zizee]

> maybe there’s a large, quiet group that is not well represented

Often referred to as the "silent majority".

> My left wing and right wing friends are pretty centrist in my estimation.

I think this is many (?most?) people's experience, whilst media (social/traditional) are geared towards demonizing both "sides", to increase engagement. I say "sides", because most people's opinions skew left/right depending on the issue in question, rather than fitting perfectly into the stereotypical archetypes.

[wolverine876]

> I wonder if the loud, vitriolic right wingers make it seem like the right thinks as a united, extreme block, when maybe there’s a large, quiet group that is not well represented?

They are all voting for Trump and the Trumpists. How moderate are they?

[christophilus]

The folks I know were mixed on that. Some held their nose and voted for him, some voted independent, and some went Democrat the last go round. I went independent.

[wolverine876]

Not to dismiss your experiences, but we are talking about the claimed "large quiet group". It doesn't seem so large if Republicans are strongly supporting Trump and Trumpists.

[jimmygrapes]

Please stop.

[linsomniac]

I'm not really sure, but I do remember my parents *hated* Carter. I remember distinctly sometime in the '90s thinking "Look at all the amazing things Carter has done with himself after being president. I always thought he was an asshole!"

[pyuser583]

Carter is a fine human being. So was Hoover.

Johnson was a sociopath, who gave us Medicare, Medicaid, desegregation, and “standardization of computer communication.”

[IntrepidWorm]

Crediting him with bringing about desegregation is giving him a bit much. He merely stopped pissing down the leg of his secret service detail long enough to sense which way the wind was already blowing.

Your point made, however: it takes a true monster to survive American politics.

[Spooky23]

Maybe now, but Carter was handed a bag of poop that soured the public.

His election was like Clinton and administration like Biden.