[96] In response to this, Carter began to emphasize his name and what he stood for, stating "My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for president."[97]
This strategy proved successful. By mid-March 1976, Carter was not only far ahead of the active contenders for the presidential nomination, but against incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford by a few percentage points.[98] As the Watergate scandal was still fresh in the voters' minds, Carter's position as an outsider, distant from Washington, D.C. proved helpful. He promoted government reorganization. In June, Carter published a memoir titled Why Not the Best? to help introduce himself to the American public.[99]

Carter became the front-runner early on by winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. His strategy involved reaching a region before another candidate could extend influence there, traveling over 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometres), visiting 37 states, and delivering over 200 speeches before any other candidate had entered the race.[100] In the South, he tacitly conceded certain areas to Wallace and swept them as a moderate when it became clear Wallace could not win it. In the North, Carter appealed largely to conservative Christian and rural voters. 