It wouldn't be impossible. Ronnie was a New Deal Democrat in his day. But I don't know how you'd get her enough of an electoral history to back her.
No. The American public has been, by the majority, consistently Left of Center to Liberal on issues. Even in the Reagan era, the public disagreed with Ronnie on everything. It's just that the economy was fine, so he got reelected. However, before the economy picked up in time for 1984, though most people personally liked him, 70% said they wouldn't vote for him again. In short, its the economy. Always has been. The problem is, firstly, Liberal was smeared into a 4 letter word and distorted. So even though most people are Liberals (which you find when you ask them about issues rather than what they call themselves), most don't identify themselves as such because they don't understand the word or believe it means something evil and nasty (a sissy driving a Prius who refuses to say Merry Christmas, for example). Most self-identify as Moderates.
You're joking, right?
BW, Jennifer Dunn was from Washington, not NY. She's too conservative to win statewide IMO- the last Republican senator from there, Slade Gordon, was to the left of a few Blue Dogs Dems and got defeated anyways.
This was the topic of the 1986 film "Riders of the Storm" (released in some countries as "American Way"), a political comedy in which a bunch of Vietnam vets operating a pirate TV station from a vintage B-29 try to sabotage the electoral campaign of a Mrs. Westinghouse, a right-wing presidential candidate who attempts to come across as the American Margaret Thatcher.
Hilary Clinton was the only real candidate so far.
That actually makes me think... A lot of the early influences on Hillary's politics were quite conservative, and she canvassed for Nixon in 1960 and read Goldwater's Conscience of a Conservative. Ironically, she might be the perfect candidate to fulfill this challenge.
Well, lets see. Through her College Years she was a Rockefeller Republican until after the 1968 Republican Convention, at which some of Nixon's tactics, especially those of the "Southern Strategy" permanently alienated her from the Republican Party. In order to avoid this, her leftward drift that occurred during her tenure at Wellesley College would also have to be avoided, thus not only keeping her views more in line with that of the Republican Party, but would keep her an influential figure within the Young Republicans, thus giving her stronger credibility within the Party. She must also avoid getting interned at "Treuhaft, Walker and Burnstein" to, again, prevent left-ward drift.
She likely would begin working in Washington in 1972, and would remain there rather than proceeding down to Arkansas; that is, if she manages to pass her bar exam which she failed in OTL. She could just as well move back to Illinois, where she is known, and start a Law Practice there.
I can imagine her becoming the Attorney General of Illinois and then its Senator in 1980, but I am not sure how realistic that is.
Sounds realistic, or maybe an open congressional seat first. If Hillary remains a Goldwater Girl, then she can try and primary Chuck Percy.