AHC: Rise of Moral Majority against a Republican White House

Wolfpaw

Banned
Reagan was in bed with the religious right since around 1960. Sorry.
And with the far-right long before then...
reagan-autograph-768334.jpg


"To my hero, Joe McCarthy -- Keep on fighting the Reds!"
Picture dated 1952
 
As long as we're involving the Goldwaters, how about Jr. Decides to run for Governor of California in 1974? Four-term Congressman & son of Conservative icon beats CA SoS Jerry Brown. With re-election in 1978, Reagan bows out to endorse his mentor's son for the Presidency. Despie his youth, Barry Jr., with Western Republicans backing him, manages to beat our Bush, Dole, Anderson, etc.
 
Have The Republican party go left on social issues, leading to a Goldwater-conservative (ie Libertarian) flavored party. At the same time, make the Democrats more populist rather then progressive. The Republicans and Democrats swap a few demographics, and one that goes with the Dems are the evangelicals.
 
Have The Republican party go left on social issues, leading to a Goldwater-conservative (ie Libertarian) flavored party. At the same time, make the Democrats more populist rather then progressive. The Republicans and Democrats swap a few demographics, and one that goes with the Dems are the evangelicals.

See, if that happens, what states does the GOP have to keep to stay competitive? Maybe New England and California?
 
See, if that happens, what states does the GOP have to keep to stay competitive? Maybe New England and California?

Actually, the whole map might be in contention.

You have a Small government, free market, civil liberties party (Republicans)

You have a big government, welfare/entitlement programs, and traditional values party (Democrats)

Very few states support all three, and politics might eb competitive again
 
Actually, the whole map might be in contention.

You have a Small government, free market, civil liberties party (Republicans)

You have a big government, welfare/entitlement programs, and traditional values party (Democrats)

Very few states support all three, and politics might eb competitive again

I'm working on a timeline like that on a different forum, & let's just say the maps will be weird. I'm wondering how industrial states might go as they have a history of more liberal republicans, but still would probably be putty in Democratic hands on a national level thanks to union presence, etc.
 

Tovarich

Banned
Yes. However, you'd need Reagan to give them power. Gerald Ford could be Reagan's VP and Hinckley could succeed. Richard Schweiker could do so if Reagan wins in '76, but the Moral Majority would be slightly different since it was formed in 1979.

Apologies for going off on a tangent here, but I'm curious.

Would Ford even consider standing as VP candidate, that being a demotion?
(Yes, obviously I know he only 'lucked' into the POTUS job, but even so....?)
 
Would Ford even consider standing as VP candidate, that being a demotion?
(Yes, obviously I know he only 'lucked' into the POTUS job, but even so....?)

[Ford turned down Reagan's offer for second spot on the ticket in 1980. s Schweiker who was more liberal than Ford agreed to be Reagan's running mate in 1976. So if President Reagan dies after taking office on January 20, 1977, then Fallwell would be an opponent of President Schweiker.
 

pnyckqx

Banned
Had McCain won in 2000, the Religious Right might have backed a third party run by Buchanan or Keyes in the general.
Seeing as how both men are Traditional Catholics, there is some doubt that they would get full support of the Religious Right. While Catholics, especially Traditionalists line up with many of the Religious Right's views, the Church itself maintained a healthy distance.

Incidentally, are we discussing the Religious Right or Moral Majority? They were and are not one and the same.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Just remember that at this time the Kennedys were also big fans of McCarthy. Especialy Bobby.
JFK was never a "big fan" of McCarthy, who he basically saw as an encapsulation of everything negative in the Irish-American community; an uncouth, unrefined, pushy boozer who alienated the hell out of the Eastern elite.

This did not, however, preclude RFK and Papa Joe from being hardcore McCarthy fans, mostly out of sense of shared heritage and ruthless anticommunism.
 
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