Having read a number of American Political TLs focusing on this point in history, I have long speculated what the effects of a Ford victory in the 1976 election would have been. In OTL, Ford only needed to shift a few more votes in Ohio and Mississippi in order win the day, having already rebounded from a thirty point deficit at the time of the GOP Convention.
With this POD, how would the 1980 race be effected? Republicans would have by this point, held the White House for 12 years, and Ford's second term would have been during hard times both economically, and in terms of foreign policy (i.e: The Iran Hostage Crisis). On the Republican side, Reagan, the OTL GOP Nominee, would face the challenge of overcoming Vice President Bob Dole, who would be the first in line for the Republican nomination. Further, the OTL Republican strategy of blaming the incumbent could not be used.
On the Democratic side, who could emerge as the nominee? Many candidates like Ted Kennedy, Hugh Carrey, Walter Mondale or even Gary Hart could have a shot, and with the mentioned handicaps for the Republicans it could be a Democratic landslide.
So what kind of possible outcomes would emerge in a Ford Victory scenario? What kind of election would 1980 be, and what kind of tenure could a Democratic or Republican President expect come 1981?