"Reagan won because he ran against Jimmy Carter. If he ran unopposed he would have lost"

This quote by Mort Sahl is a commentary on the power of competitors in politics. It recommends that Ronald Reagan's success in the 1980 governmental election was due to the fact that he was running against Jimmy Carter, instead of any particular strength of his own. Sahl implies that if Reagan had actually been running unopposed, he would have lost the election. This quote highlights the significance of having a strong challenger in order to win an election. It likewise suggests that Reagan's triumph was not necessarily a result of his own merits, but rather a result of the weak points of his challenger. This quote serves as a suggestion that in politics, having a strong challenger can be just as essential as having a strong platform.