James Buckley Re-elected

What if James Buckley had been reelected in 1976?

Moynihan barely inched out Abzug in the Democratic Primary. Had she won the nomination, she likely would have lost by a significant margin to Buckley.
 
Abzug could certainly have won the Democratic nomination if O'Dwyer or Clark had dropped out of the race and supported her. Although Abzug would almost certainly have done worse than Moynihan did, I think that even she would have defeated Buckley--the issue of aid to New York City hurt the Republicans badly. And one must remember that Buckley's victory in 1970 was something of a fluke; he won because the liberals were divided between Ottinger and Goodell.

What *might* have re-elected Buckley would have been Abzug getting the Liberal Party nomination after Moynihan won the Democratic primary. In that event, he would again face divided opposition...
 
Abzug could certainly have won the Democratic nomination if O'Dwyer or Clark had dropped out of the race and supported her. Although Abzug would almost certainly have done worse than Moynihan did, I think that even she would have defeated Buckley--the issue of aid to New York City hurt the Republicans badly. And one must remember that Buckley's victory in 1970 was something of a fluke; he won because the liberals were divided between Ottinger and Goodell.

What *might* have re-elected Buckley would have been Abzug getting the Liberal Party nomination after Moynihan won the Democratic primary. In that event, he would again face divided opposition...

That makes sense.

So what happens if Buckley gets re-elected?
 
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