History TroubledProduction / Other

** Worse, Romney had badly bottled a visit to [[UsefulNotes/{{London}} the UK just prior]], forgetting the name of British Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband (and just referring to him as "Mr Leader", with its unfortunate BananaRepublic overtones) and suggesting that London wasn't ready to host the upcoming Olympics, which earned him a public rebuke from Prime Minister UsefulNotes/DavidCameron himself.

** By mid-June, polling showed Trump being viewed as highly unfavorable among many voting demographics.
** At the same time, countless articles came out revealing that Trump's remarks had alienated other members of his own party. Numerous Republican leaders, ranging from Congressmen to state governors. [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dozens-of-gop-delegates-launch-new-push-to-halt-donald-trump/2016/06/17/e8dcf74e-3491-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html?tid=sm_fb Many GOP delegates also began pushing efforts to block Trump from receiving the nomination at the Republican National Convention]].

** It emerged afterwards that Russia presided over a state-run doping program involving corrupt anti-doping officials, intelligence agents, and dozens of athletes including members of the cross-country ski team and two medal-winning bobsledders. The doping program allowed Russian athletes (who had previously performed poorly in Vancouver) to outperform their American rivals and win the most medals at Sochi. The pervasiveness of the doping program and Russia's refusal to cooperate with the World Anti-Doping Agency make it possible for Russia to be disqualified from the 2016 Olympics.

* Proving that you don't even have to ''win'' hosting the games to have one of these, the attempt by {{UsefulNotes/Boston}} to host the 2024 games [[http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/18/boston-olympics-report-real-risks-bid-officials-say/U0664w7BMeTVCMtY3mSXbO/story.html was full of problems]]. Between the half-formed and outright stupid proposals (such building an athlete's village in {{Southie|s}}, and even a cursory knowledge of the neighborhood's history tells you why that's a bad idea) they were also dealing with terrible timing, as this was all unfolding while memory of the worst winter on record, which saw the already aging transportation system grind to a screeching halt, was still fresh in everyone's minds. Add to that a history of city officials pitching grandiose projects like The Big Dig that go horrifically over budget and time (see below under "Other") and there was skepticism and outright scorn towards Boston 2024 from the start. And while no one would admit so out loud, after the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, no one wanted to [[TemptingFate tempt fate]] that boldly after what happened in Atlanta in 1996. The bid was eventually dropped completely in an announcement by City Mayor Marty Walsh after the IOC rushed him to sign an agreement, and while he dropped it ostensibly because the IOC wasn't able to guarantee insurance for the taxpayer dollars that would inevitably go into it, it's pretty much universally believed he really did so because he realized he did not have and never was going to have the support he needed from the general public.

* In the 2016 race, there has been speculation that Donald Trump becoming the presumptive nominee of the Republican party may cause a repeat of 1964 for the party.

* The 2014 [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup World Cup]] in UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}} was such a clusterfrak that it was amazing the government of Dilma Rousseff won re-election despite the backlash against its handling of the games.
** Massive protests occurred in the year before the World Cup, largely out of the perception that public funds going to the games were being misused, wasted on corruption, and could be better used elsewhere. Brazilian footballer Romário referred to the Cup as the "biggest theft in history", claiming that its real cost was as much as US$46 billion and alleging massive corruption on the part of both FIFA and the Brazilian government. It was for this reason that no speeches were given at the opening ceremony, as is customary.

** The scariest part? This might happen all over again: Brazil is due to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Already, stadiums and infrastructure are falling behind schedule.

* Another troubled mall was Eastland Mall, now Eastgate Metroplex, on the east side of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was to have been built in the 1970s, but sat half-finished for years due to a myriad of problems, including a worker falling to his death during construction of a Dillard's department store, and developers who pulled funding. It finally opened in 1984 and was initially successful, but in 1999, anchor store Service Merchandise went out of business, while J. C. Penney closed in 2001 and Mervyns pulled all its Oklahoma stores in 2006. (The canopy roof over center court also created maintenance woes.) This left only the Dillard's, which downgraded to an outlet store before the mall ended up converting to office space. The mall's short life was due not only to its troubled beginnings, poor anchors, and poor location (it's surrounded almost entirely by empty fields and an equally-dead strip mall), but also highway expansion that made access to other Tulsa-area malls more viable.

** Afterwards, in a last-ditch effort to energize Republicans, [=McCain=]'s campaign unleashed numerous attack ads against Obama, focusing on his relationships with Bill Ayers and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. This backfired, as the ads' partisan negativity eroded [=McCain=]'s remaining support among moderates. It also revived conservative claims that Obama was [[ConspiracyTheories foreign born, a Muslim or both]], and [=McCain=] himself grew unnerved that Obama would be booed or openly insulted at Republican campaign rallies.

** [=McCain=]'s handling of the debates spelled his campaign's death knell. Initially he suggested postponing the first debate to focus on the economy. While his intent seemed high-minded, [=McCain=]'s gesture backfired; to many, it seemed like [=McCain=] wanted to avoid discussing the issue. In the actual debates, [=McCain=] seemed defensive and short-tempered against Obama's criticisms, unable to distance himself from Bush despite his "maverick" reputation. Palin, surprisingly, held her own against Joe Biden in the vice presidential debate, but her increasing independence on the campaign trail aggravated [=McCain=]. Afterwards, in a last-ditch effort to energize Republicans, [=McCain=]'s campaign unleashed numerous attack ads against Obama, focusing on his relationships with Bill Ayers and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. This backfired, as the ads' partisan negativity eroded [=McCain=]'s remaining support among moderates.

** Palin's good first impression was short-lived. In fact, most analysis gives the impression that the selection of Palin as the running mate, together with the economic meltdown (see below), was one of the deciding factors that broke the Republicans' 2008 campaign. Palin quickly embarrassed herself in a series of interviews with Katie Couric. Alongside infamously hemming and hawing and stumbling over what was seen as relatively simple questions (such as what newspapers and magazines she read to keep up on current events), they also saw her displaying a spectacularly poor grasp of foreign policy; Creator/TinaFey's "I can see Russia from my house!" quote on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' [[note]](Palin didn't actually say that, but Fey's joke was based on Palin's assertion, in that interview, that being Governor of the only state to border Russia {via the Bering Strait} constituted acceptable foreign policy experience)[[/note]] became the defining image of Palin, significantly tarnishing a campaign that had been built upon [=McCain=]'s foreign policy credentials and decades of political experience. Furthermore, investigation of her leadership in Alaska revealed cronyism, corruption, and a SoapOpera-esque family life that was often tied to the first two, badly damaging her image as a "[[Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington Mrs. Smith]] Comes to Clean Up Washington". Palin also proved something of a PrimaDonna who was nonresponsive to advice from [=McCain=]'s advisors and often [[ItsAllAboutMe seemed to promote herself]] rather than her running mate.

** Palin's good first impression was short-lived. In fact, most analysis gives the impression that the selection of Palin as the running mate, together with the economic meltdown (see below), was one of the deciding factors that broke the Republicans' 2008 campaign. Palin quickly embarrassed herself in a series of interviews with Katie Couric. Alongside infamously hemming and hawing and stumbling over what was seen as relatively simple questions (such as what newspapers and magazines she read to keep up on current events), they also saw her displaying a spectacularly poor grasp of foreign policy; Creator/TinaFey's "I can see Russia from my house!" quote on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' [[note]](Palin didn't actually say that, but Fey's joke was based on Palin's assertion, in that interview, that being Governor of the only state to border Russia {via the Bering Strait} constituted acceptable foreign policy experience)[[/note]] became the defining image of Palin, significantly tarnishing a campaign that had been built upon [=McCain=]'s foreign policy credentials and decades of political experience. Furthermore, investigation of her leadership in Alaska revealed cronyism, corruption, and a SoapOpera-esque family life that was often tied to the first two, badly damaging her image as a "[[Film/MrSmithGoesToWashington Mrs. Smith]] Comes to Clean Up Washington". Rumors spread that [=McCain=] regretted choosing Palin, and that the two running mates didn't get along behind the scenes.

** [=McCain=]'s handling of the presidential debates spelled his campaign's death knell. Initially he suggested postponing the first debate to focus on the economy. While his intent seemed high-minded, [=McCain=]'s gesture backfired; to many, it seemed like [=McCain=] wanted to avoid discussing the issue. In the actual debates, [=McCain=] seemed defensive and short-tempered against Obama's criticisms, unable to distance himself from Bush despite his "maverick" reputation. Palin, surprisingly, held her own against Joe Biden in the vice presidential debate, but her increasing independence on the campaign trail aggravated [=McCain=]. Afterwards, in a last-ditch effort to energize Republicans, [=McCain=]'s campaign unleashed numerous attack ads against Obama, focusing on his relationships with Bill Ayers and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. This backfired, as the ads' partisan negativity eroded [=McCain=]'s remaining support among moderates.

** It emerged afterwards that Russia presided over a state-run doping program that involved corrupt anti-doping officials, intelligence agents, and dozens of athletes including members of the cross-country ski team and two medal-winning bobsledders. The doping program allowed Russian athletes (who had previously performed poorly in Vancouver) to outperform their American rivals and win the most medals at Sochi. The pervasiveness of the doping program and Russia's refusal to cooperate with the World Anti-Doping Agency make it possible for Russia to be disqualified from the 2016 Olympics.

** It emerged afterwards that Russia presided over a state-run doping program that involved corrupt anti-doping officials, agents from the Russian intelligence service, and dozens of Russian athletes including members of the cross-country ski team and two medal-winning bobsledders. The doping program allowed Russian athletes (who had previously performed poorly in Vancouver) to outperform their American rivals and win the most medals at Sochi. The pervasiveness of the doping program and Russia's refusal to cooperate with the World Anti-Doping Agency make it possible for Russia to be disqualified from the 2016 Olympics.

** It emerged afterwards that Russia presided over a state-run doping program that involved corrupt anti-doping officials, agents from the Russian intelligence service, and dozens of Russian athletes including members of the cross-country ski team and two medal-winning bobsledders. The doping program allowed Russian athletes (who had previously performed poorly in Vancouver) to outperform their American rivals and win the most medals at Sochi. The pervasiveness of the doping program and Russia's continued failure to cooperate with the World Anti-Doping Agency make it possible for Russia to be disqualified from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro]].

That said, as the following examples show, the modern party system certainly hasn't ended tumultuous campaigns or mismanaged candidacies.

To avoid making this folder excessively long, a prefatory note. In the 19th and early 20th Centuries, it was common for either or both major parties to reach their convention without having a nominee. Few candidates actively campaigned for the nomination, while state primary elections were more for show (as delegates could be bought or "traded" at convention time). Open conventions were actually the norm, and the emergence of "dark horse" compromise candidates not uncommon. By the 1950s, this faded with the increasing prominence of primary elections, which gave the ordinary voters a more direct say in nominating candidates.

** The dissension among GOP moderates climaxed at the Cleveland Governor's conference in June. The assembled governors expected Scranton to announce his candidacy on ''Face the Nation''; Scranton indeed planned to announce, but Eisenhower's unwillingness to publicly endorse him caused Scranton to change his mind. Bitter recriminations followed, as Rockefeller and Romney attacked Scranton as a coward, while Scranton chastised their own indecision. Adding insult to injury, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon arrived, [[ItsAllAboutMe offering himself as a candidate]]; the governors proved distinctly cool to the idea.
** After [[MoralEventHorizon Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act]] on June 17th, Scranton ''finally'' entered the race, traveling across the country to rally support and peel delegates away from Goldwater. Scranton found that Goldwater had secured the delegations of most states through primaries or deals with state party chairs. And the Establishment undercut his campaign: Rockefeller refused to release his delegates to Scranton, while Eisenhower ''still'' wouldn't publicly endorse him. Then Ohio and Wisconsin released their delegates to Goldwater, dooming Scranton's eleventh-hour bid.

** Furthermore, the aftermath of the lawsuits over the primaries resulted in a drawn-out nomination vote. [=McGovern=] didn't even ''begin'' delivering his all-important acceptance speech until well after midnight Eastern time. It's no surprise that the amount of potential drama at both parties' conventions has been consciously and predictably reduced to near-zero since this one.

** Even after the convention, Humphrey's ongoing support of Vietnam crippled his campaign; anti-war protesters heckled him at every speech and campaign stop. [=McCarthy=] and other liberals refused to endorse him. Even sympathetic observers felt that Humphrey [[SpotlightStealingSquad was overshadowed by his running mate]], Maine Senator Edmund Muskie. And many blue-collar Democrats supported Wallace's campaign, with its emphasis on states' rights, limited government, and opposition to integration. A last-minute push for Humphrey by the AFL-CIO reclaimed some of them; even so, Wallace maintained a solid base of support, earning 13.5 percent of the vote and winning five states on Election Day.
** Humphrey's disastrous campaign contrasted with Richard Nixon's: Nixon won the Republican nomination after token opposition from Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan, presided over a unified convention, and promised to end the war and abolish the military draft. These promises drove many disaffected liberals to endorse Nixon, while Nixon's tough "law and order" stance on social issues endeared him to conservatives. Nixon's only hiccup came in selecting Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew as his running mate, as Agnew's gaffes[[note]]such as calling reporter Gene Oishi a "fat Jap" or referring to Polish-Americans as "Polacks"[[/note]] earned uniformly negative press.

** Even after the convention, Humphrey's ongoing support of Vietnam crippled his campaign; anti-war protesters heckled him at every speech and campaign stop. [=McCarthy=] and other liberals refused to endorse him. Even sympathetic observers felt that Humphrey [[SpotlightStealingSquad was overshadowed by his running mate]], Maine Senator Edmund Muskie. And many blue-collar Democrats supported Wallace's campaign, with its emphasis on states' rights, limited government, and opposition to integration.
** Humphrey's disastrous campaign contrasted with Richard Nixon's: Nixon won the Republican nomination after token opposition from Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan, presided over a unified convention, and promised to end the war and abolish the military draft. These promises drove many disaffected liberals to endorse Nixon, while Nixon's tough "law and order" stance on social issues endeared him to conservatives. Nixon's only hiccup came in selecting Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew as his running mate, as Agnew proved hopelessly gaffe-prone.

** Even more than 1968, the primaries were long, drawn-out, and painful. While [=McGovern=] soon emerged the frontrunner, he faced challenges from liberals (Shirley Chisholm, John Lindsay), moderates (Hubert Humphrey, Edmund Muskie), and conservatives (Scoop Jackson, George Wallace) alike. Richard Nixon's CREEP organization happily sewed discord among the Democrats, through anonymous calls and poison pen letters, phony campaign rallies, and slanderous media stories. For one notorious example, Muskie's campaign was sabotaged by the "Canuck Letter", claiming that Muskie publicly slandered French-Canadians (a sizable minority in the primary state of New Hampshire). Even sleazier was Nixon's effort to tie [=McGovern=] to Wallace's shooting by Arthur Bremer, with Nixon's operatives planting [=McGovern=] campaign literature in Bremer's home.

** Even after the convention, Humphrey's ongoing support of Vietnam crippled his campaign; anti-war protesters heckled him at every speech and campaign stop. [=McCarthy=] and other liberals refused to endorse him. And many blue-collar Democrats supported Wallace's campaign, with its emphasis on states' rights, limited government, and opposition to integration. Humphrey's disastrous campaign contrasted with Richard Nixon's: Nixon won the nomination after token opposition from Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan, presided over a unified convention, and promised to end the war and abolish the military draft. These promises drove many disaffected liberals to endorse Nixon, while Nixon's tough "law and order" stance on social issues endeared him to conservatives.

** [=McCain=]'s handling of the presidential debates spelled his campaign's death knell. Initially he suggested postponing the first debate to focus on the economy. While his intent seemed high-minded, [=McCain=]'s gesture backfired; to many, it seemed like [=McCain=] wanted to avoid discussing the issue. In the actual debates, [=McCain=] seemed defensive and short-tempered against Obama's criticisms, unable to distance himself from Bush despite his "maverick" reputation. Palin, surprisingly, held her own against Joe Biden in the vice presidential debate, but negated any benefits with her continued stumbles on the campaign trail. Afterwards, in a last-ditch effort to energize Republicans, [=McCain=]'s campaign unleashed numerous attack ads against Obama, focusing on his relationships with Bill Ayers and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. This backfired, as the ads' partisan negativity eroded [=McCain=]'s remaining support among moderates.

** Essentially, the race pitted Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, leader of the GOP's emerging conservative base, against the Republican establishment, still moderate-to-liberal on most issues. Problem is that the establishment had no viable candidate to oppose Goldwater. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller was Goldwater's early rival, but Rockefeller's remarriage to a much younger divorcee sabotaged his chances. (Specifically, Happy Rockefeller gave birth right before the crucial California primary, spotlighting the controversy and tipping that state into Goldwater's column.) Henry Cabot Lodge, Ambassador to South Vietnam, won several early primaries through a write-in campaign; Lodge never left Vietnam and didn't openly declare his candidacy, so his campaign fizzled out. George Romney, Governor of Michigan, refused to run, as did Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, who was UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower's preferred candidate.
** The dissension among GOP moderates climaxed at the Cleveland Governor's conference in June. The assembled governors expected Scranton to announce his candidacy on ''Face the Nation''; Scranton indeed planned to announce, but Eisenhower's unwillingness to publicly endorse him caused Scranton to change his mind. Bitter recriminations followed, as Rockefeller and Romney attacked Scranton as a coward, while Scranton chastised their own indecision. Adding insult to injury, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon arrived, [[ItsAllAboutMe offering himself as a candidate]]; the Governors proved distinctly cool to the idea.

** Unfortunately for Democrats, Johnson's announcement had the opposite effect. Vice President UsefulNotes/HubertHumphrey emerged as the front runner, acting essentially as Johnson's proxy: socially liberal but committed to the Vietnam War. UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy entered the race, to [=McCarthy=]'s chagrin; the two candidates became bitter rivals as they competed for antiwar votes. Kennedy won several primaries and gained ground on Humphrey and [=McCarthy=], before his assassination in June 1968. Meanwhile, segregationist Alabama Governor George Wallace formed an American Independent Party of disaffected conservative Democrats, which doomed the Party's chances in the South.

** After [[MoralEventHorizon Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act]] on June 17th, Scranton ''finally'' entered the race, traveling across the country to rally support and peel delegates away from Goldwater. Scranton found that Goldwater had secured the delegations of most states through primaries or deals with state party chairs. And the Establishment ''still'' equivocated: Rockefeller refused to release his delegates to Scranton, while Eisenhower refused to publicly endorse him. Then Ohio and Wisconsin released their delegates to Goldwater, dooming Scranton's eleventh-hour bid.

** Unfortunately for Democrats, Johnson's announcement had the opposite effect. Vice President UsefulNotes/HubertHumphrey emerged as the front runner, acting essentially as Johnson's proxy: socially liberal but committed to the Vietnam War. UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy entered the race, to [=McCarthy=]'s chagrin; the two candidates became bitter rivals as they competed for antiwar votes. Kennedy won several primaries and gained ground on Humphrey and [=McCarthy=], before his assassination in June 1968. And segregationist Alabama Governor George Wallace formed an American Independent Party of disaffected conservative Democrats.

** Unfortunately for Democrats, Johnson's announcement had the opposite effect. Vice President UsefulNotes/HubertHumphrey emerged as the front runner, acting essentially as Johnson's proxy: socially liberal but committed to the Vietnam War. UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy entered the race, to [=McCarthy=]'s chagrin; the two candidates became bitter rivals as they competed for antiwar votes. Kennedy won several primaries and gained ground on Humphrey and [=McCarthy=], before his assassination in June 1968. And Alabama Governor George Wallace, notorious for his defense of segregation, formed an American Independent Party of disaffected conservative Democrats.

** Even after the convention, Humphrey's ongoing support of Vietnam crippled his campaign; anti-war protesters heckled him at every speech and campaign stop. And many blue-collar Democrats supported Wallace's campaign, with its emphasis on states' rights, limited government, and opposition to integration. Humphrey's disastrous campaign contrasted with Richard Nixon's: Nixon won the nomination after only token opposition from Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan, presided over a unified convention, and promised to end the war and abolish the military draft. These promises drove many disaffected liberals to endorse Nixon, while Nixon's tough "law and order" stance on social issues endeared him to conservatives.

** Even more than 1968, the primaries were long, drawn-out, and painful. While [=McGovern=] soon emerged the frontrunner, he faced challenges from liberals (Shirley Chisholm, John Lindsay), moderates (Hubert Humphrey, Edward Muskie), and conservatives (Scoop Jackson, George Wallace) alike. Richard Nixon's CREEP organization happily sewed discord among the Democrats, through anonymous calls and poison pen letters, phony campaign rallies, and slanderous media stories. For one notorious example, Muskie's campaign was sabotaged by the "Canuck Letter", claiming that Muskie publicly slandered French-Canadians (a sizable minority in the primary state of New Hampshire). Even sleazier was Nixon's effort to tie [=McGovern=] to Wallace's shooting by Arthur Bremer, with Nixon's operatives planting [=McGovern=] campaign literature in Bremer's home.

** The dissension among GOP moderates climaxed at the Cleveland Governor's conference in June. The assembled governors expected Scranton to announce his candidacy on ''Face the Nation''; Scranton indeed planned to announce, but Eisenhower's unwillingness to publicly endorse him caused Scranton to change his mind. Bitter recriminations followed, as Rockefeller and Romney attacked Scranton as a coward, while Scranton chastised their own indecision. Adding insult to injury, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon arrived, offering himself as a candidate; the Governors proved distinctly cool to the idea.
** After Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act on June 17th, Scranton ''finally'' entered the race, traveling across the country to rally support and peel delegates away from Goldwater. Scranton found that Goldwater had secured the delegations of most states through primaries or deals with state party chairs. And the Establishment ''still'' equivocated: Rockefeller refused to release his delegates to Scranton, while Eisenhower refused to publicly endorse him. Then Ohio and Wisconsin released their delegates to Goldwater, dooming Scranton's eleventh-hour bid.

** The dissension among GOP moderates climaxed at the Cleveland Governor's conference in June. The assembled governors expected Scranton to announce his candidacy on ''Face the Nation''; Scranton indeed planned to announce, but Eisenhower's unwillingness to publicly endorse him caused Scranton to change his mind. Bitter recriminations followed, as Rockefeller and Romney attacked Scranton as a coward, while Scranton chastised their own indecision. Adding insult to injury, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon arrived afterwards, offering himself as a candidate; the Governors proved distinctly cool to the idea.

** Essentially, the race pitted Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, leader of the GOP's emerging conservative base, against the Republican establishment, still moderate-to-liberal on most issues. Problem is that the establishment had no viable candidate to oppose Goldwater. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller was Goldwater's early rival, but Rockefeller's remarriage to a much younger divorcee sabotaged his chances. (Specifically, Happy Rockefeller gave birth right before the crucial California primary, spotlighting the controversy and tipping that state into Goldwater's column.) Henry Cabot Lodge, Ambassador to South Vietnam, won several early primaries through a write-in campaign; Lodge never left Vietnam and didn't openly declare his candidacy, so his campaign fizzled out. George Romney, Governor of Michigan, refused entreaties to run. UsefulNotes/RichardNixon hovered around the campaign's fringes, hoping for a draft movement that never materialized.
** UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower (who distrusted Goldwater) repeatedly encouraged William Scranton, the popular Governor of Pennsylvania, to run. Scranton initially refused, but reconsidered after Goldwater essentially sewed up the nomination by winning California. Scranton planned to announce his candidacy on CBS's ''Face the Nation'', only for Eisenhower to undercut him days before by announcing he would oppose any "Stop Goldwater" movement. After Eisenhower's about-face, Scranton's interview was a disaster, saying he'd be open to a draft but not declaring an open candidacy. Scranton, previously lauded as the "Republican Kennedy," became derided as the "Harrisburg Hamlet" and "Gutless Bill."
** All this was prelude to the July convention in San Francisco. A last effort to boost Rockefeller or Scranton over Goldwater faltered, but not before generating bad blood on both sides. This inevitably spilled onto the convention floor. Rockefeller introduced a plank repudiating extremism, only for Goldwater partisans to boo him for minutes on end. Scranton released a public letter labeling Goldwater a dangerous extremist. Goldwater responded with a defiant acceptance speech, declaring "Extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice! Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!" Then he named equally conservative William Miller as his running mate. That upwards of 40,000 Civil Rights protestors picketed the convention drew little attention compared to the drama in the Cow Palace. The convention was so disastrous that Johnson's campaign [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm0zm_OgfV0 cut an ad consisting entirely of quotes by Rockefeller, Romney and Scranton]].

** The original plan called for discount and off-price stores, thus causing Bigg's hypermarket (a now defunct regional chain similar to a Walmart supercenter, which also anchored the Denver and Louisville malls) to join as an anchor. However, the developers changed plans early on and instead bought controlling interest in four upscale department stores (New York-based B. Altman and Company and Bonwit Teller; Houston, Texas-based Sakowitz; and Birmingham, Alabama-based Parisian) in order to force all four into anchoring the mall. (Parisian and Bonwit Teller were also forced into the Columbia mall, which quckly bombed as well due to the ill-fitting anchors and market saturation.) Since Bigg's opened first, they ended up sharing space with both the upscale anchors and the lower-end regional chain Elder-Beerman, the mall's sixth anchor. Such high-end stores were too opulent for the working-class demographics surrounding the mall, and would have been better suited for Kenwood Towne Centre on the near-northeast side, which is still the "fancy" mall in the Cincinnati market. In addition, Tri-County went on a massive renovation spree at the time, adding a new department store and second level, luring away potential tenants from Forest Fair.
** Forcing four upscale chains into a market unsuitable for them caused LJ Hooker to file for bankruptcy in 1990. This also resulted in the liquidation of three of the four aforementioned chains (only Parisian [which swiftly closed its Forest Fair store, but later opened another short-lived store elsewhere in Cincinnati] survived until 2006, when it was bought by Belk). The mall got sold to another company, which re-invented it with a "discount" format and lured in several new anchor stores, most prominently a Bass Pro Shops, and managed to get it around 75% occupancy.

** Simon quickly passed the mall on to a series of other developers, one of whom defaulted on a loan, while the mall itself began racking up debts to the city and a school district. In the midst of all this, the theaters closed and Burlington (who is notorious for maintaining stores in "dead malls") moved to a new location. Later developers had grandiose plans to add an ice rink and a Candlewood Suites hotel that never materialized. The mall, with no internal guidance and nothing replacing its vacated anchor stores, withered away to nearly nothing by TheNewTens, leaving a [[https://www.flickr.com/photos/fanofretail/albums/72157657378955661 hulking, pristine, yet ghostly behemoth]] with at last estimate, fewer than 10 stores counting Bass Pro, Kohl's, and Babies "R" Us. Despite all this, rumors still rumble of its renovation, even with the news that Bass Pro Shops would be moving out in 2016. Meanwhile, Tri-County and Northgate have overcome their own management woes, demographic shifts, and changing anchor stores, with both maintaining as reasonably successful malls anchored by Sears and Macy's.

* Fashion Mall, an upscale mall in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida suburb of Plantation, was built in 1988 as an upscale mall that catered its demographics well. However, anchor store Lord & Taylor withdrew from Florida in 2003, while Hurricane Wilma destroyed the other anchor store (Macy's) and part of the mall proper in 2005, causing its tenancy to plummet until it closed in 2006. The first redevelopment plans in 2008-09 were crushed by the recession, and later redevelopment was stalled by a myriad of legal issues, including a developer that filed for bankruptcy. Redevelopment may finally begin in 2016.

** The mall space was briefly used by a local school district, but its most famous use was in the movie ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'', where the former J.C. Penney wing was fitted with fake storefronts for the famous scene in which Elwood and Jake drive a car through the mall while being chased by police.
** The mall was then abandoned, and quickly became a haven of vandalism and crime, despite a police station being built in the parking lot. The city of Harvey was unable to get the building demolished, or even keep it sealed to prevent further damage from scrappers or urban explorers (because really, how often does one get to sneak into a long-abandoned shopping mall?), so it sat and decayed in harsh Midwestern winters well into the mid-2000s. Fires were also started in the former Woolworth and a former bar on-site, further compromising the structure's integrity.
** The first redevelopment plans were announced in 2005, at which point the mall was to be demolished for "big box" retail such as Costco, with the former Montgomery Ward anchor to be repurposed. However, this was scuttled when it was discovered that a.) the mall was loaded with asbestos, and b.) the company that had begun demolition did not acquire a permit.
** The mall's power plant was demolished (still illegally) one night, and accidental demolition of the Montgomery Ward building had also begun until the mayor happened to drive by and stop them.