Can Ted Kennedy Beat Reagan?

If Ted Kennedy had been the Democratic nominee for president in 1980, could he have beaten Ronald Reagan? Who would he have selected as his running mate? How would the general election campaign have gone? Would Reagan have been able to tie Kennedy to Carter when Kennedy literally took Carter down?
 
Kennedy couldn't even articulate why he wanted to be President while Reagan captured the people's feelings in one sentence. I don't think so. There's almost holy aura around Ted Kennedy, but the 1980 run really showed how much of that was a myth.
 
No. Previous poster encapsulated it well. 1980 is still before he "got serious" as a legislator. His scandals/persona would not play well nationally.
 
Can he, as in, is it possible? Yes. You just need him to be very lucky and for Reagan to screw up.

But overall, no, he would have been likely to lose.
 
Kennedy would lose Georgia, and not have a remote chance in winning any of the Southern states Carter came close in. He'd have to really change a bunch of margins up north, and I just don't see him able to do that. He could make the EC and maybe the popular vote significantly closer, but I don't think he can win.
 
Nope

Ted kennedy had too many "skeletons in closet" what Reagan could use to blacker Ted Kennedy
one of his biggest problem was the Chappaquiddick incident in 1969
here Ted Kennedy drove of bridge into river Chappaquiddick were his secretary Mary Jo Kopechne died
Later it was revealed that Kopechne had affair with married Kennedy
Ted Kennedy contacted authorities only the next morning about the Accident, but the Sheriff had already found the wreckage with dead Kopechne
Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and was given a sentence of two months in jail
follow by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court order the inquest be conducted in secret.

What let to allot speculation what really happen at Chappaquiddick.
 
He could have yes. Some things would have to change obviously. Perhaps if he sharpens his focus in the senate even in the mid 70's that could be a start. Get a handle on his drinking. Avoid that disaster of an interview, or at the very least have a statement ready and be prepared for that question instead of asking for softballs.

Determination is key. I've long thought that Teddy didn't want the presidency, or didn't really want to try, and was only doing so because of the fact that he was a Kennedy. So, if we see a more determined Teddy, a fighting ready Teddy, coupled with the legend of the Kennedy's, we could very well see the next president Kennedy.
 
Ted Kennedy drove of bridge into river Chappaquiddick were his secretary Mary Jo Kopechne died
Later it was revealed that Kopechne had affair with married Kennedy.

Kopechne was not Kennedy's secretary, just one of several female campaign staff invited to the party. There is no evidence that Kennedy had sex with her, though his serial adultery with other women eventually came to late and his wife divorced him (despite being Catholic).

There is no clear explanation of what happened that night. The most plausible explanation I have seen is that Kopechne got drunk and crawled into the back of a car to sleep it off. Later, Kennedy and another women drove off in that car, intending to have sex on a secluded beach. But Kennedy drove the car off the bridge. He and the other woman got safely out of the car, and he returned to the house where his henchmen began planning the coverup of the accident, as they saw it then. And a few hours later, somebody said "Hey, where's Mary Jo?" This explains why another woman's purse was found in the car, and why the Kennedy cover story was so wretched.

It's a pretty damning story, but not outright evil as the more lurid suggestions are.
 
Last edited:
Ted Kennedy would not have had the advantage of incumbency that Carter had nor would he have had the Iranian Hostage Crisis to bolster him.

Remember that the rally round the flag effect of the hostage crisis kept Carter more popular than he deserved to be until after April, 2000.

Also, Reagan made a number of mistakes during the general election campaign so much so that Tip O'Neil said the "smell of victory was in the air".
 
Butterflying away Chappaquiddick is a prequisite to a Ted Kennedy presidency imho.

I agree. No matter, even though it happened in 1969, this would kill Ted's chances no matter what year (72, 76, 80, 84,88, 92, etc...) he ran.
 
Top