If Senator Edward Kennedy beat President Carter in the 1980 Democratic Primary, who does he pick as his running mate and who would help him win in the November election against Ronald Reagan?
 
"Ted Kennedy campaign announcement of people he is considering for his running mate stated. Reubin Askew, Tom Bradley, Lindy Boggs, Shirley Hufstedler, Henry Jackson, Richardson Preyer, and Adlai Stevenson III listed." https://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/programs/512390

My guess is that he goes with a southerner like Askew. The mention of Boggs [1] and Hufstedler and Bradley was probably just to show that he was "considering" women and African Americans. Jackson was just too hawkish.

As for which running mate would enable him to defeat Reagan, my answer is, None of them. The Democrats would just be too divided. A lot of Carter voters would not vote for Kennedy in Novmeber (just as in OTL many Kennedy voters would not vote for Carter). Also, when a president is unpopular, voters tend to take it out on his party, regardless of its candidate.

[1] Of course she was also a southerner--but (among other objections) I'm not sure if the country was ready for a ticket of two Catholics...
 
"Ted Kennedy campaign announcement of people he is considering for his running mate stated. Reubin Askew, Tom Bradley, Lindy Boggs, Shirley Hufstedler, Henry Jackson, Richardson Preyer, and Adlai Stevenson III listed." https://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/programs/512390

My guess is that he goes with a southerner like Askew. The mention of Boggs [1] and Hufstedler and Bradley was probably just to show that he was "considering" women and African Americans. Jackson was just too hawkish.

As for which running mate would enable him to defeat Reagan, my answer is, None of them. The Democrats would just be too divided. A lot of Carter voters would not vote for Kennedy in Novmeber (just as in OTL many Kennedy voters would not vote for Carter). Also, when a president is unpopular, voters tend to take it out on his party, regardless of its candidate.

[1] Of course she was also a southerner--but (among other objections) I'm not sure if the country was ready for a ticket of two Catholics...

I agree, Kennedy badly needs a Southerner to quickly unite the party. Such a move could act as an olive branch to Carter's wing and appeal to the social conservatives turned off by Kennedy's positions on abortion and labor (neither of which have ever been popular down South). Any other choice would be suicidal to his campaign. As for whether or not Kennedy could beat Reagan: opinion polling showed him leading the Gipper by wide margins, but that is absent the brutality of a campaign in which Republicans would attack Kennedy's character and specifically focus on Chappaquiddick. Unlike his brother Robert, who stood a good chance of winning in the general had his underdog campaign scored an unlikely upset in 1968, Ted just didn't want to be President and it showed in his doomed campaign. Ultimately, he was better off in the Senate and I'm glad he stayed there.
 
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