AH Challenge: George w Bush wins presidency - in 1996

With a POD before 1994 and after 1992, your challenge is for George Walker Bush to win the 1996 election against Bill Clinton.

He must leave office at the earliest noon January 20, 2001.
 
For such a scenario to ensue I can foresee two courses that could lead George Walker Bush to the Presidency of the United States by January 20, 1997.

1: George W. Bush surprisingly defeats Democrat Kent Hance in November 1978 to become the first Republican ever to represent Texas' 19th Congressional District. Throughout his tenure Bush gains notoriety for not only being the son of Vice President George H.W. Bush but also for championing the causes of the Religious Right. Consequently, Bush is able to rise through the House leadership and succeeds Dick Cheney as House Minority Whip upon being nominated as Secretary of Defence in March 1989, much to the dismay of Newt Gingrich. Similar to the unfolding events of the second scenario, the Lewinsky Affair breaks in late 1995 causing Bush to seek the Republican nomination in 1996 and in turn narrowly defeating incumbent President Clinton in November 1996.

2: The Lewinsky Affair leaks to the public in late 1995. President Clinton's approval ratings, which had already been plummeting rapidly since the "Republican Revolution" of 1994, reach record lows. The recently elected Governor of Texas, George W. Bush, who had been touted as a potential candidate in 1996 by many after his resounding victory over Anne Richards shortly afterwards announces his candidacy campaigning on "bring morals back to America". Combined with his message of "compassionate conservativism", Governor Bush, with the assistance of the Religious Right is able to convincingly defeat favourite Senator Bob Dole of Kansas in the primaries to secure the nomination in San Diego. Despite attempts from the Clinton campaign to portray the recently elected Governor as inept to handle the Presidency, as well as the economy experiencing much needed growth upon the onset of the early 1990s recession, with constant media attention focusing on the misdemeanours of President Clinton, Governor George Walker Bush narrowly defeats the incumbent President by taking the crucial state of Ohio and her 21 electoral votes to become 43rd President of the United States.

Note: Even looking back on these they seem somewhat implausible, but I cannot think of any other ways in which George Walker Bush can become President of the United States by January 20, 1997.
 
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