Ford wins in '76, does Dole run in '80?

POD: Ford wins narrowly.

Bob Dole is now Vice President for the 1977-81 term.

Does Dole run for President in this TL's 1980?

Is America ready for another disabled President?
 
POD: Ford wins narrowly.

Bob Dole is now Vice President for the 1977-81 term.

Does Dole run for President in this TL's 1980?

Is America ready for another disabled President?

I don't think disability has anything to do with it--it doesn't seem to have hurt Dole in 1996. Rather, Dole's problem is that Republicans will be in the mood for an ideological change after twelve years of relatively centrist GOP presidents, and Reagan will definitely be the front-runner for the GOP nomination. (IMO Reagan or anyone else will probably lose to the Democratic candidate. The Ford administration's likely unpopularity by 1980 will be a problem for any GOP candidate. )
 
Was't Dole partly paralysed from his war injuries?

He lost most of the use of his right arm. But this was never a *political* handicap for him. Quite the contrary, his heroism won him (justified) admiration. That's why I was slightly puzzled by the initial post's question.

Bill Clinton, say what you will about him, was a good enough politician to defeat *two* war heroes!
 
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