Wise words from Mom (and the Reagan Radio)
My parents disagreed a lot and loudly when I was growing up. They may not have been the two most incompatible humans to ever attempt to live under the same roof, but they were somewhere in the top ten. They came from opposite ends of the spectrum on many issues, one being politics. My dad was a staunch Democrat, from a family that proudly displayed a framed portrait of President John F. Kennedy in a place of prominence on their living room wall.
My mom was raised in a household of equally passionate Republicans. Though as the years passed, I came to suspect that she might be a closet Independent. She never seemed as rabid for one party or the other.
In the late 1970s, when Jimmy Carter’s first term as president was coming to an end, my dad thought it was hilarious that Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate running against Carter, actually thought he had a chance of winning the election. In his mind, Reagan was just an actor who wasn’t even that well known, and had been elected governor of California only because of his association with Hollywood.
My mom, on the other hand, thought Reagan might just get in. She wasn’t particularly supportive of Reagan’s candidacy, but she still felt he had a decent chance.
They went back and forth until Mom suggested they make a bet on the election, and Dad agreed. They bet $100. If Carter was voted in for a second term, Mom would pay Dad $100; if Reagan got elected, Dad would pay Mom.
Thinking this would be the easiest $100 he’d ever make, my dad laughed. “There is no way in hell the American people will vote Reagan into the presidency. He’s an actor!”
To which Mom responded, “Never underestimate the stupidity of the American electorate.”
You may be wondering what my mom did with her $100 winnings? Well, she bought a nice, big radio/cassette player (in the parlance of the day, a “boom box”). She kept it in the kitchen and loved to play it when she was cooking or baking. She referred to it as her “Reagan Radio.”
As he’d pass through the kitchen, Dad would give Mom’s Reagan Radio the evil eye, shaking his head, as if he couldn’t quite believe he’d lost that bet. I think he was stunned that so many voters saw the Republican nominee not just as a viable option, but the better option.
In the past 10 years or so, I’ve thought many times about my mom’s wise words. If we’d had a crystal ball back when Reagan was president and could’ve seen what passes for president today… oh Good Lord! When so many pundits were saying Trump would not be elected to a second term because “voters now know what he’s about,” or “he has only the support of the MAGA crowd and that isn’t enough to get him elected,” I heard my mom’s wisdom echo in my memory: “Never underestimate the stupidity of the American electorate.”
She called it 45 years ago, in 2016, and again in 2024. Apparently, Mother really does know best.
