Napoleonrules
Banned
After all the primaries were done and the convention was being held in 1976 Ford did not have enough votes to win. It wasn't until Reagan declared his VP would be a moderate (Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania) that Mississippi bolted from the Reagan camp and the party elites didn't go for Reagan and Ford barely won on the first ballot.
Is there someone who Reagan could have picked that would have kept the Conservative and also got the party elites to accept a Reagan nomination. Would Reagan fair any better against Carter? Remember it wasn't until Reagan against Carter in 1980 that the South bolted from being solid Democrat to being solid Republican. In OTL 1976 Carter only lost Virginia and carried all the rest of the former Confederacy. Would 1980 have occurred in 1976?
Is there someone who Reagan could have picked that would have kept the Conservative and also got the party elites to accept a Reagan nomination. Would Reagan fair any better against Carter? Remember it wasn't until Reagan against Carter in 1980 that the South bolted from being solid Democrat to being solid Republican. In OTL 1976 Carter only lost Virginia and carried all the rest of the former Confederacy. Would 1980 have occurred in 1976?