An idea occurred to me earlier today. What if, instead of fighting off the primary challenge that he did in OTL, Bush Sr. loses the GOP renomination in 1992 to Patrick Buchanan, AND Jesse Jackson launches a strong left wing campaign that just manages to clinch the Democrat nomination due to the absence of Bill Clinton from the field for some reason? This is probably a very unlikely scenario, Bush did win by a healthy margin pretty much everywhere and Jackson didn't even run, but I'm curious what everyone's thoughts are on this potential matchup. Obviously race would be a big issue, as would the economy, although the rhetoric on the issue would probably be much more fiery and intense than IOTL. Unfortunately I don't have the time or knowledge to make this into a full blown TL, but maybe someone else would be able to.
Nobody's First Choice: Buchanan v. Jackson 1992
- Thread starter JamesBond88
- Start date
Deleted member 109224
Part of why Perot ran was due to a vendetta against Bush, and Buchanan broadly agrees with him on trade.
But if he ran, he'd likely win.
I think Jackson also is protectionist which could mean Perot stays out. OTOH he might enter the race due to centrism instead.
Buchanan didn't come close to winning a single GOP primary in 1992. In his best state, NH, he trailed Bush by almost sixteen points. In fact, NH and GA were the only states where Buchanan came within thirty points of Bush. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries It's hard to discuss your hypothetical unless we know how Buchanan (who in some states like IL, OH and NJ trailed Bush by over fifty points in OTL!) managed to win the nomination...
I think you'd see George Bush play Teddy Roosevelt and WIN. Heck, given the right circumstances, you could even see him run with a Blue Dog Democrat as the VP.
Probably. On the upside 1992 Buchanan is probably a lot less bad than 2018 Buchanan would be.
It's been my understanding that because Buchanan lost in NH his momentum, such as it was, completely evaporated. I was thinking perhaps something happens with Bush that prevents him from either having as much underlying popularity as he did, or prevents him from personally touring the state and boosting his numbers, as the wikipedia said he did.
This is so far-fetched but it's a delightful scenario to imagine. Especially if Perot is still involved.