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President Reagan visits the Neshoba County Fair
You may have seen some of the unsupported allegations made about Reagan's stop at the Neshoba County Fair in 1980. Democrats have been trying to portray Republicans as racists and segregationists to hide their own sad 200 year legacy of pro-slavery, pro-segregation, and pro-discrimination policies.
So when Reagan agreed to appear at the fair, billed as "Mississippi's Giant House Party"®, Democrats crafted a scheme to try and tie it to the death of three civil rights activists in the 1960s in nearby Philadelphia.
The claims, variously as "Reagan launched his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia" or "Reagan made a major speech in Philadelphia" are pure nonsense. Let's look at the facts of Reagan's appearance.
Q: Did Reagan kick off his 1980 campaign there?
A: No. Reagan kicked-off his 1980 general election campaign in New Jersey, with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop. Reagan's real kick-off message: he was going after traditional Democrat voters alright: union members. He then flew to Detroit (site of the 1980 nominating convention) to target another state with many traditional Democrat union voters.
Q: Did Reagan kick off his primary campaign there?
A: No. The primaries start in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Q: When did Reagan appear there?
A: The fair is held on or near the first week of August. This was almost three weeks after the nominating convention and a month before the general election kick-off.
Q: Is the fair held in the city of Philadelphia?
A: No. The fair is held on the county fairgrounds, which are about 7 miles away.
Q: Did Reagan make the south a target of his 1980 campaign? Was this a "major" speech?
A: No. Since Carter's strength was in the south Reagan planned on winning the west, upper midwest and key large states such as Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas. In addition, this was not a major speech. The period between the nominating convention and the general election is political "down time" where candidates gear-up for the general election. Reagan had already visited Texas, California and other states, and wedged this stop in the middle of an Illinois-New York swing.
As TIME magazine (oddly, now one of the publications repeating the myth about Reagan pandering to racists) reported in their September 15th, 1980 issue:
The basic Reagan geographical strategy remains unchanged. His aides estimate his firm base in the West will produce about 150 electoral votes. East of the Mississippi, such states as Indiana, New Hampshire, Vermont and Virginia are seen as reasonably safe, giving him another 30 votes, just 90 short of election. Even if Carter should hold the Deep South, which is far from certain, Reagan will look for his victory margin in five targeted states: Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida. They have 121 electoral votes, and if Reagan can win just the largest three, he should wind up in the Oval Office. Thus nearly 40% of his currently scheduled campaign time (49 days of travel and 95 major appearances) will be devoted to these five states.
Hardly the campaign of someone trying to win by capturing "southern" (racist) votes, eh?
Q: Okay, so why did Reagan appear there?
A: The Neshoba County Fair has a rich tradition of being a forum for lively entertainment, including political debate. Reagan planned on speaking to as many people as possible in the fewest campaign stops in the south since most of his time would be spent elsewhere. Since thousands of people visit the fair each year, Reagan could maximize his exposure. In addition the Fair was entered on the National Register of Historic Places that year, making it an even bigger draw. Since the Fair falls into the "dead zone" between the nominating convention and the general election kick-off over Labor Day, Reagan was able to adjust his schedule and squeeze it in between stops in Illinois and New York.
From the Neshoba County Fair website:
In 1896 Governor McLaurin spoke at the Fair which began the tradition of the Neshoba County Fair as a political forum for local, state, and national politicians. Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp and John Glenn are among the national figures who have visited the Fair during their campaigns.
As you can see, Reagan did not "kick off" any part of his campaign there nor was it a "major speech". Not to mention the fact that the County Fair is held "near", not "in" Philadelphia. In addition, other candidates have made similar appearances yet haven't received the liberal coronation of 'racist' as a result. Obviously it's an attempt to discredit President Reagan.
Some liberals in the press tried to tie Reagan's visit to a 'southern strategy' to attract the vote of racists (which would mean that liberals simply thought all white voters in the south were racists) and some maintain that claim today, despite the evidence to the contrary.
Lou Cannon, who spent years covering Ronald Reagan says of the visit:
[O]nce Reagan gives you his word, he tries to keep his word. I mean, many black people in this country think Ronald Reagan signaled that he was a racist because he started his '80 campaign by going to Neshoba, Miss. It's the Mississippi state fair, but it's also where three civil rights workers were killed. Reagan went there because he had given Trent Lott, then a congressman and now senator from Mississippi, his word that he would go. He didn't go there because he wanted to advertise that he identified with the darkest elements in Mississippi's history.
Ironically, President Carter (a southern conservative Democrat) did launch his general election campaign in a KKK stronghold. When Reagan pointed that fact out, the press went wild. Not to castigate Carter for being so politically insensitive, of course, but to accuse Reagan of trying to "introduce race" into the campaign!
Reagan's record of never pandering to people who held racial prejudices is well documented. Throughout his life he embraced people of all races, and always acted to implement his political program of smaller government, a better America and to promote his vision of a Shining City on a Hill.
Update: an audio recording of the event has been discovered. Listen to the speech yourself!
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