All excellent ideas; I'll address them individually, so we all can figure out what could work with this concept.
Perhaps Clinton sticking to the conventional approach of picking a candidate from a different region of the country for geographic balance. Maybe he thinks that he can do well in the west with Reid and possibly pulls off an upset in states like Utah and Wyoming with Reid hitting the states hard and Perot taking enough votes away from Bush.
That could be an option; perhaps Gore refuses his offer, and Clinton decides that the conventional approach is best, picking Reid. I'm not sure Reid could pull off an upset in Utah however; we've been very conservative since the 80s. Even a moderate-to-conservative Mormon Democrat won't change that. Hmm... If Reid goes around Utah and pounds out his pro-life credentials and hard upbringing (focusing on his conversion to Mormonism when among Mormons, of course) constantly, it might work.
What about Reid getting into the Senate earlier and running in '88?
That's another idea, RB pointed out that he could have easily defeated Laxalt in '74, which gives Reid 14 years of senatorial experience, give or take 4 years for a potential stint as Governor of Nevada.
I definitely don't see a scenario in which Reid runs for President, and even if he did, he wouldn't get any further than the Democratic primaries. For that matter, if he threw his name out there, he probably wouldn't even last until the primaries started.
However, I can see some plausible scenarios for him to be selected as a VP candidate. Reid in 92 with Clinton makes some sense, but another one that seems to work is Reid in 88, in a timeline where Mario Cuomo runs and takes the nomination. Reid provides geographic balance, the charisma issue isn't as severe as it might be with a Gore type, and both Reid and Cuomo could be cast as pugnacious: Cuomo for his attitude, Reid for his boxing.
That's a good point; a Pugilist Presidency, perhaps (aagh the alliteration, I'm turning into a comic book character) could work. I don't know why he would put his name out, I was just curious if Reid could have a chance to become President or VP.
Hmm, what if Clinton is taken out of the race in 92, for whatever reason (a Monica Lewinsky-esque scandal before he's even the nominee?), and Cuomo decides to run in his stead, picking Reid as VP for geographic and political balance (since Cuomo is seen as a liberal-type)?
I'm more hesitant to have a scenario in which Reid runs/is picked for VP in 88, since Dukakis lost so terribly then. Could a different Democrat run and actually win in 88, picking Reid for VP?
Reid would have to defeat Laxalt in '74, which he missed by just under 600 votes. Flip the margin.
Good point, that's probably a good starting point for scenarios of this nature; the added experience probably helps. Might be able to squeeze a run for Governor in there somewhere.