WI: Democratic Party Splits in the 1864 Election

[Emperor Shawn]

Say the Democratic Party in the 1864 election splits with the Pro-War faction supporting George McClellan and the Copperheads running their own candidate. Now in OTL Lincoln won the election in a landslide and gained a majority in both the House and the Senate, so a split Democratic party is just going to give the Republican party a larger margin of victory. Really, the only state I don't think the Republicans would win is Kentucky (where over two-thirds of the population voted for McClellan) and that might go for the Copperhead Candidate.

What I am curious about is the political ramifications of such a victory. This would be seen as a mandate from the voters and the Republicans will be facing a divided opposition. In this scenario, will the Republicans be able to pass more of the legislation that they want, especially with regards to abolition and reconstruction?

 

[Fleetlord]

What I am curious about is the political ramifications of such a victory. This would be seen as a mandate from the voters and the Republicans will be facing a divided opposition. In this scenario, will the Republicans be able to pass more of the legislation that they want, especially with regards to abolition and reconstruction?

Does Lincoln still choose Johnson or another "War Democrat" (and then get shot) as IOTL, or does the split in the Democrats encourage the Republicans to keep an all-Republican ticket?

 

[TheRockofChickamauga]

For tickets in this timeline, I could probably see these:

National Union:
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois for President
Andrew Johnson of Tennessee for Vice-President

War Democrats:
George B. McClellan of New Jersey for President
John A. Dix of New York for Vice-President

Peace Democrats (Copperheads):
George Pendleton of Ohio for President
Thomas Seymour of Connecticut for Vice-President

Perhaps the most interesting thing that could happen in this scenario is that the Radical Democracy Ticket of Fremont/Cochrane might stay in this election longer, or even until Election Day because of there being less fear of Democrats taking the presidency. Pushing this to the furthermost extremes would have Fremont narrowly seizing the office he so desired, perhaps by the Republicans deciding to rally behind him for some reason.

 

[Emperor Shawn]

Does Lincoln still choose Johnson or another "War Democrat" (and then get shot) as IOTL, or does the split in the Democrats encourage the Republicans to keep an all-Republican ticket?

So let's say that the POD is that at the Democratic National Convention, the Copperheads are upset with the decision to choose McClellan as their candidate and split from the party. This would happen after The National Union convention, where Lincoln and Johnson were chosen as the ticket.