Clinton defeats Hammerschmidt--1974

What if Bill Clinton had won his closely contested 1974 congressional race against Republican John Paul Hammerschmidt (who died today)? http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/…/former-congressman-who-be…/ My guess is that as congressman from the whitest and most conservative district in Arkansas (basically the northwest portion of the state) Clinton would have had to accumulate a voting record sufficiently conservative that it would disqualify him--in a way his record as governor of Arkansas did not--from ever winning the Democratic presidential nomination.
 
Perhaps he piles up enough support that he becomes a Third Way early - say, in 1988 - as an Independent against the dull Dukakis liberalism and the too-associated-with-Reagan Bush. A third party candidacy then, a la John Anderson in 1980, wouldn't be seen as a horrible thing for the democrats because he would be trying to steal votes from Bush that he would know Dukakis couldn't win.

Alternatively, a younger, Washington-experienced VP is possible, with a Dukakis-Clinton ticket losing, though not by as much.

This could clear the way for Bentsen in 1992 as a Presidential candidate, since h4's not associated with the loss in '88.
 
I don't know if he can win reelection in 1976, it was a Democratic year. In this scenario, I always have be elected governor in 1978 and start his OTL career. He gets elected president in 1992, only he knows more about how Congress works and gets a health care program passed.
 
Top