Bush Sr. Wins '92; Dem Nominees 1996?

Democratic Nominee, 1996

  • Governor Evan Bayh - IN

    Votes: 2 2.7%
  • Senator Joe Biden - DE

    Votes: 4 5.4%
  • Senator Bill Bradley - NJ

    Votes: 3 4.1%
  • Former Governor Jerry Brown - CA

    Votes: 6 8.1%
  • Senator Dale Bumpers - AR

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • Former Governor Bill Clinton - AR

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Governor Mario Cuomo - NY

    Votes: 29 39.2%
  • Governor Howard Dean - VT

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt - MO

    Votes: 6 8.1%
  • Senator Al Gore - TN

    Votes: 15 20.3%
  • Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell - ME

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • Governor Ann Richards - TX

    Votes: 6 8.1%

  • Total voters
    74
Bob Kerrey 53 years old former governor of Nebraska and US Sen. received the medal of honor bronze Star purple heart former Navy seal:D
 
The economic boom really took off in the second Clinton term and was partially due to the tax/fiscal policy deal between Clinton and the Dem Congress in 1993 that would not have happened had Bush 41 won. Going into 1996, one could easily see a slightly slower growth rate and an inherent Dem edge for no reason other than the GOP had controlled the White House for 16 straight years.

As for who the Dem nominee might be, in a very close election, one could not rule out another Clinton run; if anyone could pull off a political resurrection, it would be him. He had the determination and the political skill that was miles ahead of anyone else who could conceivably run.
 

Japhy

Banned
Cuomo was not going to run. Cuomo has skeletons in the closet that kept him from ever going past Governor. Full stop. Everyone needs to stop suggesting him in this or any other discussion.
 
What if George H.W. Bush, through whatever means, scraped by the skin of his teeth into reelection? It would be close, and by the time 1996 rolled around, he'd probably have some awfully low approval ratings, given the recession and an averted Republican Revolution in '94.

So, unless some serious political maneuvering occurs, the Democratic nominee is all but handed the keys to the White House. Question is, who's it gonna be?

The premise is completely wrong. The economy was already out of recession for more than a year at the time of the 1992 presidential election, although the recovery takes a lot longer to be noticeable by the general population. The underlying technological trends are bound to have the economy follow a similar path through 1996, and even if deficits are higher than in OTL, they're still going to be decreasing.
 
Nobody has mentioned Douglas Wilder yet.

He ran briefly in 1992 but dropped out before the primaries. He was term limited in 1994 and would have had the two years before the 96 election to lay down the ground work for a run in 96. He wasn't married though (he got divorced in 1978) but I guess if he thought that might be a problem he could've fixed that before 1996. People talk about Colin Powell possibly being our first African-American president had he ran in 1996. But if Bush had won in 92, Douglas Wilder would have been in a position to run in 96 and unlike Powell. Wilder would have had been a governor, had run for president before, held elected office before, and was in a party that traditionally has had a larger number of black voters. Then again the "Bradley effect" might have still been in effect for both Powell and Wilder in 96. But I can certainly see Wilder running in 96 if Bush had won in 92.
 
As much as I would have liked to see someone like Brown or Bradley, I imagine Gore would have pulled it off. He would manage to escape blame for the 1992 loss, leaking accounts of himself as the clean one with the discipline and true-green liberalism underneath, etc.

Remember, in 1988, Gore was barely out of puberty and got (I think) 3rd place in the Democratic presidential primary.
 
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