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 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.