Medved lights up Carter OR good news / bad news stat of the day

Too rough in word choice, but I suppose that's what you get in political commentary/entertainment. (Most notably, Medved labels Carter as "worthless", but he also drops an assortment of other, more creative bombs.)

I like to echo others who see Carter as one of nation's finest ex-presidents. Or less common, I like to ask people to name three good things Carter accomplished as President.

Anyway, here's the stat:

In the last 112 years, an opposition party took over the presidency eleven times (McKinley in 1896, Wilson in 1912, Harding in 1920, FDR in 1932, Eisenhower in 1952, Kennedy in 1960, Nixon in 1968, Carter in 1976, Reagan in 1980, Clinton in 1992, George W. Bush in 2000). In ten out of those eleven instances the new White House party maintained control of the executive branch for at least two terms.

The exception: Carter.

Medved's contemporary application:

In looking ahead to the Obama administration, no one wants an economic or foreign policy repetition of the nightmarish Carter years – the Republic can hardly afford that sort of long-term damage.

Obama looks like he'll be smart and effective enough to garner two terms. But we'll see...