Jimmy Carter, R.I.P.

Jimmy Carter’s best line was the opener of his speech accepting the nomination of the 1976 Democratic convention at Madison Square Garden. He had been running the first of the modern all-time campaigns, taking himself as an obscure southern governor to every hamlet and crossroads in early caucus and primary states, always beginning his pitches with the same simple introduction. At the convention, after his intraparty triumph and with the prospect of a blue election year ahead of him, he repeated it: “I’m Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for president.”