WI: Kennedy/Glenn 1980 Victory

So I was playing the game President Infinity (which I recommend to anybody mildly interested in US presidential campaigns and presidential what ifs) in the 1980 scenario, the year of the Reagan Revolution.

But instead Reagan's campaign was sunk by a series of scandals going into Iowa and, after a close race where, at various times Reagan, Ford, and Bush took the lead in the polls. Senator Bob Dole from Kansas emerged with the least mud on him and took the nomination.

On the Democrats' side, Senator Ted Kennedy joined the race against incumbent President Jimmy Carter, with Governor Jerry Brown polling around 5% but ever joining the race. Kennedy has a disastrous interview with Mudd in late 1979 that hurt him in the polls, but didn't cripple his campaign. When the Iranian Hostage Crisis started, Kennedy already had momentum back in his favor and dealing with the crisis, along with fixing the inflation crisis, become cornerstones of his campaign platform. He would poll 60% against Carter's 35% and Brown's 5% for most of the Democratic Primaries. Throughout most of this time, Kennedy does not campaign like he is facing off against Carter. Possibly to maintain party unity if he were to lose, he instead campaigns as though he is up against whoever the Republican frontrunner is that day. Most of his campaigning bringing a positive message of change and progress to the American people, but sprinkled in were attack ads and denouncement of the right-of-center political positions of his opponents.

In Iowa, Minnesota, and Maine, Kennedy obliterates Carter. The Republican field is more divided, with Dole coming out in front but everybody else remaining competitive.

As the election season continues, it's clear that Carter's campaign was sunk by Kennedy, who was polling near 70% in the primaries by the time New York and California vote, locking in his nomination. He was in the lead in the polls with 48.4% support.

Bob Dole locked his nomination the same day, as slowly more and more of the more crowded field of Republican Candidates drop out. At this time, Dole was just barely trailing Kennedy with 47.1% support.

John Anderson, possibly due to some backdoor dealings and an offer to play a role in Dole's cabinet, never takes up the banner of a third party.

Within a week, a major scandal hits Bob Dole which makes Kennedy the clear frontrunner. In an attempt to save his numbers, Dole comes out and names his Vice Presidential Candidate, Governor John N. Dalton of Virginia. Dalton, only in his first term as governor was considered inexperienced but charismatic. Kennedy held off naming a Vice Presidential Candidate for another couple of weeks as he carefully considered who to pick.

Finally, in late May, Kennedy came out and named Senator John Glenn from Ohio as his Vice Presidential Candidate. John Glenn, with his military experience, history as an astronaut, and charismatic personality was seen as a great pick. It also spawned a number of jokes about the Kennedys being obsessed with space, between Glenn's nomination and JFK's "We Choose to Go to the Moon" Speech.

Over the summer, Kennedy had a rougher time than expected. Carter never formally conceded or dropped out of the race, campaigning against Kennedy despite potentially hurting the Democrats in the general election. Carter would stay in the race all of the way to the convention, losing most of his political supporters by that time.

Dole proved to be a less competent candidate than expected. He really only seemed to have won the nomination because the bigger players, Ford, Reagan, and Bush, were all attacking one another and he had a large electoral lead by the time he polled anywhere near as well as they did. His attacks on Kennedy did little to hurt his poll numbers, his positions, which were much more centrist than Kennedy's garnered little support, and Dalton was not as good of a VP pick as he seemed on the surface, running several incompetently planned rallies that did little to boost Dole.

Kennedy took the as his opportunity to bring his more controversial and left-of-center ideas to the forefront of his campaign, namely his support of public transportation to alleviate the energy crisis, his support for universal healthcare, and his support for the Equal Rights Amendment, which had not been approved by enough states to pass yet. From the summer into the fall, Kennedy's lead only grew.

Going into the debates, Kennedy was well prepared, having used his poll lead as an excuse to make time to study up on the issues and plan out how he would respond to certain criticisms on his policies and Chappaquiddick. The debates were more or less Dole's last hope and he planned to attack Kennedy at every turn. This proved just as ineffective as his attack ads and Kennedy was seen as the clear winner of the debates. Coming off as levelheaded, competent, and, above all, presidential, Ted Kennedy's numbers soared.

The Dole Campaign was done for by that point, but they kept at it until Election Day, where the results were a Kennedy Landslide:

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Kennedy/Glenn won with 60.5% of the vote and 534 Electoral College votes
Dole/Dalton lost with 39.5% of the vote and 4 Electoral College votes

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Idaho was the only state that Dole/Dalton won, with Kansas, Alaska, and Utah being the only states they lost by less than 10%.

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With these election results, how would Ted Kennedy's presidency fair? With such a strong sweep by a left-wing candidate as opposed to a right-wing one, what would the 1980s look like?
 
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