WI: Ford wins re-election in '76, Mondale-Bumpers highly successful from '81-'89

Ford wins the close election of '76 and faces the same headwinds as Carter did in the late 1970s. The Democratic ticket of Walter 'Fritz' Mondale and Dale Bumpers wins handily in 1980. And Mondale has a highly successful presidency, in particular:

1) presiding over the economic boom of the 1980s, and

2) by negotiating from a position of matter-of-fact strength, reducing intermediate-range missiles in Europe and essentially bringing an end to the cold war much as Reagan did. In addition, Mondale moves quicker on legitimate win-win trade agreements with the former Soviet Union thereby helping their transition period.

And when President Fritz Mondale gives his farewell address on Jan. 18, 1989, he is if anything even more popular than President Reagan was when he left office.

Alright, tell me how Fritz does it and tell me more.
 
While I think pretty much any Democrat in 1980 (even Wallace) could and would've won (1980 was the perfect storm against an incumbent) - I really doubt Mondale would get it - I think someone like Ted Kennedy :)mad:) or perhaps a southern New Democrat like Bumpers, Terry Sanford or Reubin Askew or even Governor Moonbeam himself Jerry Brown could win. I just really doubt Mondale (who only just beat Gary Hart in 1984 due to vote splitting even though he was in effect the anointed nominee before-hand for 1984) could win the nomination (though he would pretty likely win the General against whoever the GOP nominated - Dole, Reagan, Helms, Crane, Bush etc.)
 
While I think pretty much any Democrat in 1980 (even Wallace) could and would've won (1980 was the perfect storm against an incumbent) - I really doubt Mondale would get it - I think someone like Ted Kennedy :)mad:) or perhaps a southern New Democrat like Bumpers, Terry Sanford or Reubin Askew or even Governor Moonbeam himself Jerry Brown could win. I just really doubt Mondale (who only just beat Gary Hart in 1984 due to vote splitting even though he was in effect the anointed nominee before-hand for 1984) could win the nomination (though he would pretty likely win the General against whoever the GOP nominated - Dole, Reagan, Helms, Crane, Bush etc.)
Kennedy only ran because he felt there was no real liberal voice in the 1980 election, if other liberals he approved of were running he'd probably sit out. Birch Bayh would be perfect, except that his wife died of cancer in 1979 so he may not feel up to running (unless she did something dramatic like make him promise to run for president in her dying breath or something).
 
As I remember from 1984, the tag on Mondale was that he had promised everything to everyone. That he had been too successful at getting endorsements!

So, let's just say either through luck or foresight he avoids that in 1980.
 
Federation of American Scientists

http://fas.org/nuke/control/inf/inf-chron.htm

1977 -- Early Months SOVIET SS-20 DEPLOYMENT The Soviet Union begins deployment in the European U.S.S.R. of the SS-20, a modern, mobile, nuclear-armed intermediate-range ballistic missile with three independently targetable warheads and the range to target all of Western Europe.
So, the plan President Reagan generally followed was to reach parity in these intermediate-range missiles in '83 and then seek reductions. Which did work, but made for a dangerous 1983.

What if Mondale takes the tact, we already have plenty of nukes for a retaliatory strike, what we need to do is improve the situation so the Warsaw Pact is not so far ahead of NATO in conventional forces.
 
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I always thought that Mondale was the most likely 1980 Democratic nominee in a Ford wins scenario. He had a lot of positive news from 1976.As he showed OTL in 1984, he had a appeal to most of the Democratic base. Like Reagan he would enjoy credit for the good economic times. He would be serious about arms control. The 80s is remembered as a time of liberal reform and great music !!!
 
Add me to the list of people who believe Mondale was a perfectly fine candidate who got crushed by circumstances in '84 as opposed to an inherently unelectable candidate.
 
Add me to the list of people who believe Mondale was a perfectly fine candidate who got crushed by circumstances in '84 as opposed to an inherently unelectable candidate.

Add me as well. Frankly, I don't understand why people say that Mondale was a terrible candidate; he never had the same kind of baggage that McGovern had, for example. Bar nuclear war breaking out in February, 1984 was just a Kobayashi Maru scenario for any Democrat.
 
President Carter began to increase defense spending toward the end of his administration. This point is often overlooked.

President Reagan either further increased or simply continued this increase. In addition, Reagan cut taxes (tax bill signed in Aug. '81). And arguably, these two things together created the deficit spending which lifted the U.S. economy out of recession. Or, at least I tend to think it did. Now, I'm pretty open to the Keynesian approach and think it's often just what the doctor ordered. I realize not everyone shares this view.

Reagan brought quite a bit of fervor that we have to build up the military regardless of cost. And that we got to cut taxes because the rates are just too high. Plus, with the 'Laffer curve,' he had an economist saying that if you reduce rates, you will grow the economy and actually increase government revenues.

So, one question is, from what coalition, philosophy, ideology, or set of practical problems, would a President Mondale get a similar amount of fervor to run deficit spending to the same extent?
 
Mondale had nothing remotely close to Reagan's ability and was basically a follower of late 1960s, early 1970s ideology.

Plus, Mondale would've killed NASA (he sought to as a Senator).
 
Eh, Mondale would have to overcome the fact that he was tied to Carter dropping the ball in '76, and get through the tide of Democratic candidates in 1980.
 
In 1976, Carter was criticized for not being specific enough on issues. But I think Fritz Mondale generally came through pretty well and was viewed as an asset on the ticket.

Packaging the Presidency, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Oxford University Press, 1996.

https://books.google.com/books?id=Mg-Mp_f-THQC&pg=PA367&dq=%22Gallup's+findings+more+closely+paralleled+Caddell's%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAGoVChMIhsrL5MWVyAIVQwiSCh0oRQ4i#v=onepage&q=%22Gallup's%20findings%20more%20closely%20paralleled%20Caddell's%22&f=false

' . . . Gallup's findings more closely paralleled Caddell's. According to Gallup, one of twenty who switched from Ford to Carter during the campaign gave as a reason their dislike of Dole; by contrast only one in a hundred of those who switched from Carter to Ford cited Mondale's candidacy as a reason. . . '
 
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In 1976, Carter was criticized for not being specific enough on issues. But I think Fritz Mondale generally came through pretty well and was viewed as an asset on the ticket.

That was because Carter was seen as an outsider even to the Democratic Party in 1976 (actually a WWWAAAYYY outsider) and Mondale was firmly tied to the Democratic establishment being a protégé of Hubert Humphrey.
 
And President Mondale gets an earlier start with AIDS funding. Although Reagan's surgeon general C. Everett Koop did alright.

And Mondale does better in responding to '80s corporate mergers. Nothing fancy-spancy or radical, just more middle-of-the-road use of antitrust laws by Mondale's attorney general.

But then, give me a blind spot or two of the Mondale administration, as well as maybe a couple of issues they just don't get rolling on for one reason or another.
 
And Vice-President Dale Bumpers runs and wins in 1988. And he does alright, until the 1991 recession. Then he is perceived as being disengaged. Plus, he wants to avoid being pessimistic and making the recession worse. Both of which are like Bush in OTL.

So, which moderate Republican runs and wins in 1992? (who perhaps even has previous leadership in the RLC, in efforts to steer the Republicans back to the center!)
 
Senator Mondale by unifying the liberal base and winning just enough establishment support wins the 1980 Democratic nomination. With double digit inflation, high unemployment, an energy shortage thanks to the Iranian revolutions in 1979, and a divided Republican party, Senator Mondale and his running mate Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas defeat Former Governor Ronald Reagan of California and his running mate Congressman John Anderson of Illinois:

Senator Walter F. Mondale (D-MN)/ Senator Dale L. Bumpers (D-ARK) 55.1% PV 491 EV

Fmr. Governor Ronald W. Reagan (R-CA)/ Congressman John B. Anderson (R-IL) 43.9% PV 47 EV

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President Mondale had a smooth transition into office and was sworn in on January 20th 1981 by Chief Justice Warren Berger. President Ford left office in 1981 with an approval rating of 30%. The economy remained stagnant until the end of 1981 when the economy double dipped and went back into recession and stayed in recession until 1982. President Mondale appointed Paul Volker to replace Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan in late 1982. With inflation still high, Volker raises interest rates to break the back of inflation. With high interest rates, unemployment at 10%, and an economy still in recession, the GOP gains seats in the house and senate (although not enough to win a majority), and pick up governor ships in the 1982 midterms. Re election for President Mondale looked bleak in early 1983, however things started to turn around at the end of the year.

By election day 1984, the economy was quickly getting back on track and the cold war was beginning to wind down. President Mondale defeated Former Vice President Bob Dole by a margin that while not as big as 1980 margin of victory, was still very decisive:

President Walter F. Mondale (D-MN)/ Vice President Dale L. Bumpers (D-ARK.) 53 % PV 456 EV

Fmr. Vice President Robert J. Dole (R-KS)/ Senator Paul D. Laxalt (R-NV) 44.5% PV 82 EV

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President Mondale's second term starts off on a high note. The economy is booming, and the President meets with new Soviet Premier Gorbachev to discuss reducing intermediate-range missiles in Europe, and makes a lot of progress. Things were going great for the President until 1986 when Mondale's cabinet was plagued with scandal, the biggest scandal involving newly appointed education secretary Bill Clinton, who involved in multiple extra marital affairs. This was key to Republican gaining seats in the house and gaining enough seats in the U.S. senate to split the majority in the 1986 midterm elections. Mondale's approval ratings, which were at 65% at the end of 1985 were now at 45%.

The President spent the rest of his second term trying to achieve a balance budget. President Mondale and congress reached budget deals in 87 and 88 that included modest tax increases and modest cuts to entitlements as a compromise to Republicans. While the deficit did fall, unfortunately, the President and Congress could not balance the budget. In 1988, President Mondale reached an agreement with Gorbachev that would reduce intermediate-range missiles in Europe by 1990.

For the Democratic nomination, Vice-President Bumpers ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. He selected Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis as his running mate.

For the GOP, the field of candidates consisted of Senate minority leader Howard Baker, Former Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld of Illinois, Illinois Governor Jim Thompson, Pat Robertson, Senator and former VP nominee Paul Laxalt of Nevada, and former white house chief of staff General Alexander Haig. Rumsfeld closely defeated Senator Baker for the nomination due to his hawkish foreign policy stances and opposition to President Mondale's missile reduction with the USSR. Rumsfeld picked Senator Baker to unify the party and balance the ticket regionally.

With the economy still humming along, inflation low, and stability abroad, the Vice President defeated Secretary Rumsfeld by a respectable margin:

Vice President Dale L. Bumpers (D-ARK)/ Governor Michael S. Dukakis (D-MA) 51% PV 346 EV

Former Def. Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (R-IL)/ Senator Howard H. Baker (R-TN) 48% PV 192 EV

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The Presidency from TTL 1976-present.

38. Gerald R. Ford: 1974-1981

39. Walter F. Mondale: 1981-1989

40. Dale L. Bumpers: 1989-1993

41. George H.W. Bush: 1993-2001

42. Richard G. Lugar: 2001-2005

43. Howard B. Dean III: 2005-2009

44. John E. Bush: 2009-2013

45. Andrew M. Cuomo: 2013-Present
 
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