Reagan Wins '76 Which Democrat Does He Face In '80

Which Of The Following Dems Would Get The 1980 Nomination?

  • Ted Kennedy

    Votes: 22 51.2%
  • Gary Hart

    Votes: 3 7.0%
  • Walter Mondale

    Votes: 6 14.0%
  • Jimmy Carter

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • "Scoop" Jackson

    Votes: 1 2.3%
  • Jerry Brown

    Votes: 6 14.0%
  • Llyod Bentsen

    Votes: 2 4.7%
  • Hugh Carey

    Votes: 2 4.7%
  • Other (State In Post)

    Votes: 1 2.3%

  • Total voters
    43
Reagan wins the GOP nomination in '76 and chooses Schweicker as his VP, going n to beat Carter in general election. Which Democrat would he face in 1980 and if such a candidate won what would their administration look like?
 
If Ted Kennedy runs, he wins the nomination (unless you buy into Jeff Greenfield's thoery). If he doesn't run than the favorite is probably going to be Mondale vis-a-vi organized labor.
 

Deleted member 9338

Governor [FONT=&quot]Terry Sanford of North Carolina. A strong conservative Democrat able to take on Reagan in the south.[/FONT]
 
If there's a Republican President, Senator Edward Kennedy probably doesn't run in 1980. His campaign was about an intraparty fight that wouldn't exist here, or at least wouldn't be as prominent. I suspect that both Carter and Mondale are discredited by the 1976 loss. So for the moment I'm discounting both of them, though a second Carter campaign is particularly unlikely. I'm doubtful about Jackson's prospects. Over here we love him as an alternate President, but he wasn't much of a campaigner as 1976 and 1972 showed. I suspect that politically Jackson's time had probably passed by 1980. It's hard to see the Democratic Party lurching to right if a conservative Presidency is going poorly, so that means the nominee is probably not Mr. "I knew Jack Kennedy" Of these candidates I suspect a Gary Hart, Jerry Brown, and Hugh Carey race. All three have considerable problems. Hart is inexperienced, and Brown's historical campaign in 1980 was terrible. I have no idea what a national Hugh Carey campaign would look like. A Brown nomination, if his campaign is identical to the one he ran against Carter in 1980, is probably the best outcome Reagan's team can hope for. Of the three, I'm most certain that Brown will contest the nomination.
 
If there's a Republican President, Senator Edward Kennedy probably doesn't run in 1980. His campaign was about an intraparty fight that wouldn't exist here, or at least wouldn't be as prominent. I suspect that both Carter and Mondale are discredited by the 1976 loss. So for the moment I'm discounting both of them, though a second Carter campaign is particularly unlikely. I'm doubtful about Jackson's prospects. Over here we love him as an alternate President, but he wasn't much of a campaigner as 1976 and 1972 showed. I suspect that politically Jackson's time had probably passed by 1980. It's hard to see the Democratic Party lurching to right if a conservative Presidency is going poorly, so that means the nominee is probably not Mr. "I knew Jack Kennedy" Of these candidates I suspect a Gary Hart, Jerry Brown, and Hugh Carey race. All three have considerable problems. Hart is inexperienced, and Brown's historical campaign in 1980 was terrible. I have no idea what a national Hugh Carey campaign would look like. A Brown nomination, if his campaign is identical to the one he ran against Carter in 1980, is probably the best outcome Reagan's team can hope for. Of the three, I'm most certain that Brown will contest the nomination.

I disagree about Kennedy. He ran in 1980 because Carter had moved to the center/right. Kennedy wanted to take the nation, and the party, back to the mainstream left. If Reagan were to be elected, he would also take the country to the right, therefore providing similar impetus for Kennedy to run.

Here is the field I would expect in 1980

  • Ted Kennedy
  • Walter Mondale
  • Jerry Brown
  • Lloyd Bentsen
  • Hugh Carey
  • Some other outsiders
 

JoeMulk

Banned
I think that Hart or even Mondale could have had a shot at the nod. I mean who we think is the frontrunner for the nomination usually isn't. The only time with the Democrats I can really think of that happening is Al Gore in 2000.
 
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