This might sound a bit like an odd scenario, but hear me out: what sort of conditions would be required for a moderate Republican like Arlen Specter to win a GOP primary post-Reagan? In real life he ran in 1996 but knew the overwhelming number of social conservatives in the party would prevent him from winning, but nonetheless he received some Northeastern support.
Would butterflying Reagan's 1980 victory and the doubling down of social conservatives and supply-siders be a decent starting point? Say the GOP remains in power during the late 1970s stagflation and fails to win an election for a few cycles. Could somebody with Specter's pro-labor and anti-free trade stances win enough primaries to be nominated by the party by wooing independents and moderates outside the South?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlen_Specter
http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Arlen_Specter.htm
Would butterflying Reagan's 1980 victory and the doubling down of social conservatives and supply-siders be a decent starting point? Say the GOP remains in power during the late 1970s stagflation and fails to win an election for a few cycles. Could somebody with Specter's pro-labor and anti-free trade stances win enough primaries to be nominated by the party by wooing independents and moderates outside the South?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlen_Specter
http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Arlen_Specter.htm