Ford wins in 1976. What Democrat wins in 1980?

Well, not Carter. Democrats would have been hesitant with nominating a southern democrat again after Carter's loss, which may even butterfly Clinton away, but that's for a separate scenario. Some would turn to Ted Kennedy, but, like Amadeus said, didn't really want to run in 80, not to mention Chappaquiddick. Carey would be a strong option for the nomination, so I will keep him in mind as well. Mondale could be a strong option as well. He could take his narrow loss in 1976 as an opportunity, running in 1980 like Edmund Muskie did in 1972. Another option would have been Muskie himself. He was considered for the nomination as a compromise candidate, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise. Reubin Askew would have been great as well. There still would have been Jerry Brown and Cliff Finch, both irl candidates. And as Amadeus also mentioned, Birch Bayh, but i don't expect him to take the offer, as he was running for re-election in the Senate, not to mention his wife's passing. Other options could be Lloyd Bentsen, Dale Bumpers, Scoop Jackson, Frank Church, and Fritz Hollings. As I am a big fan of maps, Im going to make a primary map of 1980, with all the candidates I have listed.View attachment 460914 According to this map I made, the nomination goes to either Mondale or Carey, with Reubin Askew in a close third. Both could easily take advantage of Reagan in 1980, but i feel Mondale would have a better shot, as he was more charismatic.

Mondale is an good man who served honorably in politics.

But charismatic he wasnt.
 
Jerry Litton.
There's a lot of unseen potential there. In the 76 Senate primary, I voted for Symington Jr. because I thought he was more progressive, even though I lived in Litton's congressional district. The fact that Litton won statewide despite the St. Louis vote says something about his appeal.
 
It wouldn't be Carter or Kennedy, as some have suggested in similar threads. Carter isn't going to get the nomination a second time after blowing what should've been an easy election, and Kennedy never really wanted to run. He only ran in 1980 because Carter broke his promise to pass Kennedy's healthcare plan.

So who would be the nominee? It could be Hugh Carey, who saved New York's economy in the 1970s. After the Democrats have failed with a Midwesterner hated by labor and a Southerner distrusted by the urban North, a popular New Yorker would be attractive to primary voters. Aside from Carey, I'm sure that Brown, Bayh, Cliff Finch, and Reubin Askew would also run.

What were Carey's foreign policy views? How would he deal with the Soviet Union?
 
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What were Carey's foreign policy views? How would he deal with the Soviet Unio ?
From as far as I know, Carey was really pro-peace. He was the first congressman to oppose US intervention in Vietnam, and led efforts to end the violence in Northern Ireland, along with Ted Kennedy, Pat Moynihan, and Tip O'Neill. He likely would have opposed US intervention in the Iran-Iraq War, which was happening between 1980-1988, during a possible Carey presidency
 
From as far as I know, Carey was really pro-peace. He was the first congressman to oppose US intervention in Vietnam, and led efforts to end the violence in Northern Ireland, along with Ted Kennedy, Pat Moynihan, and Tip O'Neill. He likely would have opposed US intervention in the Iran-Iraq War, which was happening between 1980-1988, during a possible Carey presidency

That makes me wonder: Would the Democrats, really, be willing to nominate another pacifist after, two pacifists, McGovern and Carter, were defeated?
 
That makes me wonder: Would the Democrats, really, be willing to nominate another pacifist after, two pacifists, McGovern and Carter, were defeated?
Probably not...
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If anyone’s writing a timeline on this, they should choose Jerry Brown...because he’s Jerry Brown.

Brown did surprisingly well in ‘76, entering three months after the primaries started and still managing to come in second to Carter. And this is as a 38-year-old freshman governor.

Now, he didn’t run a good campaign in OTL ‘80 but if he wasn’t competing against an incumbent and a Kennedy...who knows? He might go in as the front runner. He’s governor of a huge swing state, and would be competitive with Reagan there.

Besides...in an alternate history you can’t pass up having Zen Catholic progressive-conservative hippie bachelor become President.
 
Would he, really, run if he knew that no Republican could win in this timeline's 1980?

1980 would probably be his last chance. I'm sure that in 1976 many people thought no Republican could win, but Reagan ran anyway because he felt he'd never get such an opportunity again. So Reagan most likely still runs in 1980, beats Dole in the GOP primaries, but loses the general.
 
From as far as I know, Carey was really pro-peace. He was the first congressman to oppose US intervention in Vietnam, and led efforts to end the violence in Northern Ireland, along with Ted Kennedy, Pat Moynihan, and Tip O'Neill. He likely would have opposed US intervention in the Iran-Iraq War, which was happening between 1980-1988, during a possible Carey presidency

Sorry for the late reply.
Thing is, according to https://books.google.com/books?id=1...ved=0ahUKEwjq2rCQwfjiAhXSUxUIHfN8AWcQ6AEIPTAD, Carey, initally, supported the Vietnam War, he only opposed it later.
BTW, there were many people who weren't generally pacificists but opposed using ground troops in Vietnam.
Northern Ireland was in a sectarian conflict, it isn't a good example.
Also, we can't be sure if there would still be an Iran-Iraq War if Ford won.
 
Sorry for the late reply.
Thing is, according to https://books.google.com/books?id=1...ved=0ahUKEwjq2rCQwfjiAhXSUxUIHfN8AWcQ6AEIPTAD, Carey, initally, supported the Vietnam War, he only opposed it later.
BTW, there were many people who weren't generally pacificists but opposed using ground troops in Vietnam.
Northern Ireland was in a sectarian conflict, it isn't a good example.
Also, we can't be sure if there would still be an Iran-Iraq War if Ford won.

Many Republicans held views on Vietnam that were similar to Carey (Initially in support, but switched to opposed in the late 1960s). He doesn't seem to have been all that radical, and neither did Carey have a reputation as such. (George Will once described Hugh Carey as New York's best 20th Century Governor. George Will!) And being Irish, I think Carey had a special passion for peace in Ireland that went beyond politics.
 
Carter probably wouldn't have been nominated. People wouldn't have cared as much about electing an ethical candidate in 1980 as in 1976, since it was 4 years further removed from Watergate.
 
It wouldn't be Carter or Kennedy, as some have suggested in similar threads. Carter isn't going to get the nomination a second time after blowing what should've been an easy election, and Kennedy never really wanted to run. He only ran in 1980 because Carter broke his promise to pass Kennedy's healthcare plan.

So who would be the nominee? It could be Hugh Carey, who saved New York's economy in the 1970s. After the Democrats have failed with a Midwesterner hated by labor and a Southerner distrusted by the urban North, a popular New Yorker would be attractive to primary voters. Aside from Carey, I'm sure that Brown, Bayh, Cliff Finch, and Reubin Askew would also run.

Sorry for replying again after a long time but was McGovern, really, hated by labor? According to what I've read, labor opinions on him were divided.
 
I'm not sure that the GOP is guaranteed to lose in 1980. Ford could realistically handle the Iran issue differently, thus preventing the Iranian Oil Shock. Growth in Real GDP wasn't that bad, despite the inflation of the 1970s. It was the oil shock that made the economy so poor.

Hugh Carey would be the strongest candidate in 1980 however. Carey-Bentsen or Carey-Jackson seem like the strongest tickets.

I'm not sure if Reagan would run in 1980 here. VP Bob Dole will probably run and he'd be plenty good for Reagan's sensibilities.
 
I'm not sure that the GOP is guaranteed to lose in 1980. Ford could realistically handle the Iran issue differently, thus preventing the Iranian Oil Shock. Growth in Real GDP wasn't that bad, despite the inflation of the 1970s. It was the oil shock that made the economy so poor.

Hugh Carey would be the strongest candidate in 1980 however. Carey-Bentsen or Carey-Jackson seem like the strongest tickets.

I'm not sure if Reagan would run in 1980 here. VP Bob Dole will probably run and he'd be plenty good for Reagan's sensibilities.

Even if things went very well for Ford, there would still be some economic problems and there would, of course, be party fatigue of 12 years of Republicans.
 
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