"...despite having the Canal Zone and much of central Panama under the control of the the Marines within weeks and aggressive Corps of Engineers investments to get the canal up and running again, the deployment of the post-Vietnam USMC and Navy within the Western Hemisphere polarized American society; a grassroots slogan, Not Another War!, became the rallying cry and soon led to a group called NAW - National Anti-War - which curiously had the same acronym. Much like Vietnam had split America down the middle, now so did the Panama intervention; resentment of "long-haired hippies and stoners" mobilized many conservative groups as well. That the economy suffered a severe supply shock in tandem, and that there was no draft this time, further complicated the lines along which people moved; the idea that "the people who brought you Watergate now bring you war and recession" was a potent message as Democrats jockeyed for influence with an eye towards the 1978 midterms and the 1980 election beyond..."
- Activism and the Seventies
"...the Panama Crisis was in many ways a godsend to the New Right; for Buckley, it gave him a platform that was visceral, clean and easy to take sides on. Of course America had a responsibility to crush Torrijos and Noriega like insects under a boot; that Cuba was involved and Nicaragua seemed to be in collapse only suggested a further potential domino effect in America. For Reagan, who had demagogued against dealing directly with Torrijos in negotiations, he took it as a sign that he had been right all along; more moderate Republicans, for their part, blamed Reagan and his legions of conservative activists for pressuring Ford and his team to walk away from Torrijos (Secretary of State Bush would dispute that characterization for the rest of his life). The brewing civil war within the party even extended down from the Cabinet and Capitol Hill to grassroots organizations, even those on college campuses; Young Americans for Freedom found its second wind and was more ideological, and less straightforwardly partisan, than the College Republicans. What seemed to be emerging was two strains of thought; of an established Republican Party, one tied more to the idea of politics as a big tent, and a conservative movement, which was more generally culturally encompassing and viewed partisan politics more as a vehicle than as a purpose. These views were often at crosswinds, despite many of the views shared; and at the center of the gale was Ronald Reagan..."
- Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed America [1]
"...that the Democrats were not in the White House like they had been in Vietnam made this a cleaner thing, one could say; NAW and Students for a Democratic Society were able to work hand in glove to protest the fighting and campaign for a "settled solution." Democratic leaders were wary of suggesting handing over the Canal to Panama now entirely for fear of seeming weak; much like activism was exploding on the right and complicating matters for the Ford administration, Democrats on Capitol Hill found it hard to articulate exactly what the end goal should be. For hawks like Henry Jackson, the answer was clear: Torrijos' head, although after a fair trial, of course. For others, it was more mealy-mouthed; radicals suggested the entire withdrawal from Latin America, while others suggested a power-sharing operation. Much as Ford was discovering, there were really no good options..."
- The Wilderness Years: The Democrats in the 1970s
[1] This actual title of a book about the 1980 campaign is chosen intentionally and, somewhat, ironically