LBJ escalates in 'Nam

WI LBJ fights the war as Ike had recommended, cutting the Trail with five or six divisions and implementing the Abrams approach earlier? Effects on the antiwar movement? If he does it before the '66 midterms, would it save his second term? Doubt it because the domestic program will boomerang by 1968.
 
What would the political fallout be? Same as OTL? This could take the wind out of Nixon's sails, because COIN's what he promised IOTL. Perhaps the antiwar movement is so energized that either Nixon or RFK declare before Xmas '67? Not that Nixon needs to, because he's already at DefCon 1.
 
The US will lose regardless. Vietnam was an unwinnable war.

What? Really?

a) Tet is seen as reality, massive North Vietnamese defeat. LBJ wins second term, crushes North Vietnamese. Then withdraws troops and backs South Vietnamese only with airpower (as historically: South Vietnamese + US airpower defeat North Vietnamese).

North Vietnamese run low on conventional supplies, and after a '75-76 failed invasion (as the… IIRC '73 invasion went) the USSR turns their attention to Afghanistan. North Vietnam then lacks the support for a further offensive.

b) US adopts proper counterinsurgency tactics early (retire Westmoreland, Abrams gets command). Viet Cong wiped out earlier then OTL Tet in '68. North Vietnamese conventional forces defeated, as usually happened.

c) No Watergate. Nixon continues supporting South Vietnam as per OTL and the '75-76 offensive is defeated as the earlier one was. See version a).

Etc….

The Vietnam War was winnable. It was a bad idea to start, and it might be a bad idea to win, but it's certainly winnable (winnable = Korean type situation).
 
How does this affect LBJ's political future? I think his second term is beyond saving, but how does this affect the '68 race? Nixon will have to shift his focus to the domestic front, and perhaps RFK jumps in earlier like I mentioned earlier. I still see a Nixon victory, for now...
 
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