Pineapples vs. peanuts? The state of politics, 43 years ago

In late October of 1976, Senator Bob Dole paid a campaign visit to La Crosse and West Salem. Dole was President Gerald Ford’s running mate on the Republican ticket, facing Democrats Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. Since Carter was known as a peanut farmer, and the name “Dole” is associated with pineapples, Dole somehow got around to joking that unlike peanut butter, pineapple juice doesn’t stick to the roof of your mouth.

Democrats brought California Governor Jerry Brown to UW-L for a late campaign rally to help Carter, who defeated him in the primaries. At Mitchell Hall, Brown said Ford hadn’t come up with an original idea in 25 years.

Some new fall TV shows in ’76 didn’t last long, such as a Dick Van Dyke variety show featuring an unknown Andy Kaufman, a Sunday night show for kids with Bill Cosby, and the sitcom “Mr. T and Tina.” It wasn’t THAT Mr. T–the character was a Japanese businessman played by Pat Morita, yesterday in La Crosse.