From what I understand, Bush partly lost in 1992 because his foreign policy expertise were seen as less relevant. So what if the Cold War was still going on at the time of the election, and it was fairly hostile? Could he have won?
The economy needs to be better...
That's the main reason why he lost...
The economy needs to be better...
That's the main reason why he lost...
Going to Baghdad probably would have kept foreign policy in the news. The Cold War under Gorby would have been a non-issue. Now if Gorby had died early on and you had a Putin in charge who is making enough of a brouhaha somewhere like Central Europe to make it a foreign policy a core issue then maybe.
It's possible. On the one hand, if foreign policy is still a big issue for the '92 election, there's a good chance Clinton wouldn't have been the Democratic nominee, so that helps Bush Sr. out a lot. As another poster said, Kerrey could've been the nominee in this scenario.
On the other hand, Bush could still very easily lose. The economy was pretty bad in the early '90s, a freezing cold war doesn't change that, and Bush Sr. ran a horrible campaign in OTL, which I don't see that changing either unless Lee Atwater's cancer and death is somehow prevented.
Wasn't Daddy Bush pretty much screwed from the moment he did the "read my lips; no new taxes" just before bringing in a load of new taxes?
(Same thing happened with the newly re-elected Tory UK govt, when Lamont shoved VAT through the roof barely before the caretaker had finished sweeping up in the polling station).
Perhaps if foreign policy is such a big deal, maybe Kerrey would have gotten the nomination instead.
Bush Sr. ran a horrible campaign in OTL, which I don't see that changing either unless Lee Atwater's cancer and death is somehow prevented.
That's the assumption in Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire. (which is starting to look better as I learn more about Aleksandr Dugin...)
That, and using Peggy Noonan's silly "Thousand Points of Light" speech.
Sad statement of American politics, as those tax increases were the most responsible thing he ever did domestically as POTUS.