My take on David Duke: He had a good message, was connected and moving forward prior to the 1980 election. He was floating a campaign run for president, and was kind of flying under the radar. I don't think he had much of a chance, but Reagan's body politik made hay of him - put him in the limelight before he was prepared to act the part. He looked a tad bit foolish, and just sort of faded away. If he'd had a full campaign staff and a fully developed message at that time, he'd have fared much better then.
I love how he removes Blitzer's legs out from under him in this clip!