text: It 's not so hard , however , to imagine the GOP following the pattern set by the Democrats after 1972 : pulling themselves together momentarily to field a winning centrist candidate four years later--and then thwarting his ability to govern ( as the Democrats in Congress did Jimmy Carter 's ) --thereby producing an era of domination by the opposition for the next two decades .
  
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  Jimmy Carter was not taken seriously as a candidate by the Democrats .