Gary Hart for President

How would Gary Hart’s Presidential Campaign have turned out in 1988 without the Donna Rice affair and the whole Monkey Business? He was a massive favorite to win the nomination so let’s assume IOTL he does so. Hart ran in a time where extramarital affairs were a career killer, certainly not like our times now or even 4 years later with all the women Bubba bedded. How does a campaign against Bush Sr. fare without the many blunders that the Dukakis campaign committed? I can’t imagine Hart giving as wimpy an answer as Dukakis did about the death penalty in a debate. Also that campaign really came down to strength and toughness which Hart had significantly more of than Dukakis. And the fact that Bush Sr. won in a landslide that year was not pre ordained and there was certainly voter fatigue after 8 years of Reagan, the last 2 1/2 consumed by the Iran Contra Scandal.
 
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Hart’s the only one of the seven dwarfs that could have beaten Bush barring a big push. You wanna magic up a Hart without the attitudes towards women he’s golden.

Better he just straight up divorce in like 1985 though.
 
No one has answered this question yet. Does Hart beat Bush if he runs?
Bush is riding on the coattails of the Reagan administrations that knocked down the double-digit inflation of the seventies. In other words, Bush was as close as you could get to a Reagan third term. So, I doubt if Hart could win.
 
Bush is riding on the coattails of the Reagan administrations that knocked down the double-digit inflation of the seventies. In other words, Bush was as close as you could get to a Reagan third term. So, I doubt if Hart could win.

The Democrats were initially projected to win, thanks in part to the Iran-Contra Scandal and the 1987 Stock Market Crash. The reason they lost is that Dukakis ran a terrible campaign, and he himself proved an ineffectual candidate. Had the Democrats ran an appealing and articulate candidate who ran an aggressive campaign, then he could've narrowly won. Without Hart's "Monkey Business," that might've been him. That said had he won it would be close. Not 1960 close, but he'd only win by about 2 or 3 points in the popular vote.
 
Dukakis had a double digit lead after the DNC convention in Houston. Even as late as August Dukakis was still ahead. Then Lee Atwater did gus dirty work. Democrats lost two elections on smear campaigns, this and Kerry. One would imagine Hart would be tougher in standing up to it and can't imagine him riding around in a tank either.
 

samcster94

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Dukakis had a double digit lead after the DNC convention in Houston. Even as late as August Dukakis was still ahead. Then Lee Atwater did gus dirty work. Democrats lost two elections on smear campaigns, this and Kerry. One would imagine Hart would be tougher in standing up to it and can't imagine him riding around in a tank either.
A 1988 that has Bush win, but more like an inverted Obama 2012(a clear victory, but hardly a landslide), seems plausible.
 
40. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
41. Gary Hart (1989-1997)
42. George W. Bush (1997-2005)
43. John McCain (2005-2009)

44. Barack Obama (2009-2017)
45. Joe Biden (Since 2017)
 
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