President Jim Hightower?

The Ralph Yarborough thread brought him to mind.

Before his 1990 Karl Rove engineered defeat by Rick Perry Hightower was insanely popular in Texas as a populist very much in Yarborough's vein (Hightower worked for him in the 1960s).

So could Hightower manage to escape his OTL fate, become Texas Governor, and then run for the Presidency?
 
Electric Monk! You're alive!

Obviously getting rid of Rove would be the best POD. Problem with that is Rove helped Bush defeat sitting Governor Ann Richards, who as a Democrat is standing in Hightower's way. But she was getting old and would probably retire by 2000. If he ran and won then, and continued getting re-elected, he might be very formidable by say 2008. Problem is who knows who's already president then because of no Rove.
 
Electric Monk! You're alive!

You haven't noticed my 30,000 words and counting timeline in pre-1900? But thank you for noticing my non-zombie state.

Richards only narrowly won the '90 election IIRC, it shouldn't be that hard to get her out of the way. Perhaps a stumble or no Karl Rove subtly effecting Republican state politics (Gramm stays a conservative Democrat, knock-on effects down ticket?).
 
Hightower getting on radio earlier might help.
Another idea is celebrity endorsements. Hightower was (and is) friends with a guy named Eddie Wilson, who managed a number of music groups and runs a restaurant known in part for its status as a music venue (Threadgill's). Some could potentially help raise Hightower's profile. (Of course Ann Richards also knew Wilson- she was sworn in for her first elected office in an earlier place of his.)

A third idea would be to bypass the governorship. Ag secretary might not be as high profile as other things, but it could get him noticed...and look how well being Ag Secretary did for Henry Wallace!
 
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