What if Former United States Senator from Alaska Mike Gravel ran for President of the United States before 2008? In OTL 2008, he lost because his tenure in the United States Senate was too far removed from memory. I don't think he would have won in the Democratic Party presidential primaries of 1984 or 2000, but he might have a shot in 1988, 1992, or 2004.
 
I think you'd need to prevent his career from going down in flames in 1980, where he couldn't even win the Democratic primary. You could have him run in 1976 before his career collapsed. Or you need to find a way that he manages not to, in his own words, "alienate almost every constituency in Alaska" so that he either wins reelection in 1980 or manages some sort of political comeback later on.
 
Top