WI: Larry McDonald For President?

Larry McDonald was a Conservative Democratic Congressman from Georgia, and President of the hyper-right wing John Birch Society. In 1983, he was killed in KAL 007.

At the time of his death, he was considering a run for the US presidency, which sprung into my mind and interesting scenario. What if he had averted death and managed to mount a run?

In my mind, I can either see an attempt at the Democratic nomination (which I'm sure he'll lose) and/or an Independent run ala George Wallace.
 
He had about as much of a chance at winning the Democratic nomination in 1984, as Ron Paul had at winning the Republican nomination in 2008. In other words, he has a snowball's chance in hell. However, he might drop out of the Democratic nomination and go for an independent run. To me, it seems unlikely though. And it's even more unlikely that he'd actually win the election.
 
If he ran as a Democrat, he'd do WORSE than Ron Paul. His positions were far out of the mainstream. (According to a friend of mine who knew him, he allegedly called Newt Gingrich a liberal...) He'd have likely appealed to the right wing of the religious right and the die-hard cold war hawks.
 
I'm under no allusion that he'd win, but it a run is an interesting concept nonetheless.

I believe he had been offered the nomination for the American party in 1976, though he turned it down. Were he to actively seek the presidency for 1984, I do think that'd be an option.

I am curious, though, of whom he would choose as VP and how well he could actually do? Could he pull off a Wallace and get a good showing, or even some electoral votes, in the South?
 
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Interesting POD, Nort...I think I read about him do reasearching for a timeline but IDK. But I think him making a run for the nomination either in '84 or '88 would be pretty plausible. I do think he could make a bigger splash in the less crowded field of '84, effectivley running as the "Southern Candidate" which could stop Mondale from getting the nomination outright. That could effectivley give Gary Hart the nomination, and to broaden his appeal in the south he could give McDonald a spot as his running mate?
 
Interesting POD, Nort...I think I read about him do reasearching for a timeline but IDK. But I think him making a run for the nomination either in '84 or '88 would be pretty plausible. I do think he could make a bigger splash in the less crowded field of '84, effectivley running as the "Southern Candidate" which could stop Mondale from getting the nomination outright. That could effectivley give Gary Hart the nomination, and to broaden his appeal in the south he could give McDonald a spot as his running mate?
I don't think he could get on the ticket; too outside the mainstream for that. He would be like Wallace, if Wallace was even more of a niche candidate with limited appeal and alienation of the mainstream voters.
 
A McDonald run, if nothing else, would bring to widespread public notice just how deeply weird the John Birch Society's theories are. Since the early 1960's at least, they've expounded a classic crackpot conspiracy theory which holds that virtually every bad political and economic movement or idea in history is ultimately traceable to the machinations of a shadowy circle of "malefactors of great wealth", to use TR's classic phrase, known as the "Insiders". Gary Allen's screed, None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1971), published by the JBS' imprint, is a classic explication of this bizarre worldview. According to this way of thinking, the Council on Foreign Relations, the so-called "Bilderbergers", the Trilateral Commission, and just about every organization that brings together prominent people from around the world are arms of this conspiracy, all ultimately traceable back to the Illuminati. In fact, these are the very people that Shea and Wilson wrote the Illuminatus! trilogy to make fun of.

The difference between the Illuminatus! fans and the JBS people, of course, is that the JBS people take this nonsense with complete seriousness.
 
I could see him forcing Reagan to move a bit farther to the right with an independent run so as to not lose some of his religious base.
 
I could see him forcing Reagan to move a bit farther to the right with an independent run so as to not lose some of his religious base.
I actually think Reagan would try to run more toward the middle, treating McDonald like some Liberal stereotype/strawman of a Conservative who was laughable.
 
McDonald wouldn't win any EV either, if he runs as a third-party candidate. Perhaps 4-5% shaved off GOP margins in the Deep South (still over 60% for the GOP), and that's about it. In 1984 the Dems decided to stick with the electorally obsolete New Deal under Mondale instead of New Democracy with Gary Hart. Not that it makes a difference: Reagan is invincible in 1984, just as Nixon was after February in 1972.
 

Moore2012

Banned
Larry McDonald Bio

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Lawrence Patton McDonald, M.D. (April 1, 1935 – September 1, 1995) was an American politician and a member of the U.S. Senate (1973-1995) as a conservative Republican. He was active in numerous civic organizations and maintained a very conservative voting record in Congress. He was known for his staunch opposition to communism, feminism, and welfareism. He was the second president of the John Birch Society (1983-1991) and also a cousin of General George S. Patton.

Early life and career

Larry McDonald was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. As a child, he attended private and parochial schools before attending a non-denominational high school. He spent two years at high school before graduating in 1951. He graduated from the Emory University School of Medicine in 1957.

From 1959 to 1961, he served as a flight surgeon in the United States Navy stationed in Iceland. McDonald married an Icelandic national, Anna Tryggvadottir, with whom he would eventually have three children. It was in Iceland that McDonald first began to take note of communism. He felt the U.S. Embassy was doing things advantageous to the Communists. He went to the commanding officer, but was told he did not understand the big picture.

After his tour of service he practiced medicine in Atlanta. He took an increasing interest in politics. He joined the John Birch Society in the mid-1960s. McDonald's passionate preoccupation with politics led to a divorce from his first wife. In 1975, he married Kathryn Jackson, whom he met while giving a speech in California.

Political career

McDonald ran for U.S. Senate in 1972 as a conservative who was opposed to communism, busing, and big government. McDonald won the Republican primary by just 1,923 votes over Congressman Fletcher Thompson. McDonald went on to win the seat in November over incumbent Democratic Senator David Henry Gambrell 50.2% to 49.8% in a surprise upset.
In the Senate, McDonald hewed to a consistently conservative line on issues such as foreign policy, defense spending, fiscal restraint, states’ rights, gun rights, and pro-life. As a candidate, he mounted campaigns that successfully combined modern elements with a more traditional grassroots strategy. It paid off. In 1978, McDonald beat off a strong challenge from centrist Democrat Sam Nunn.
McDonald, who considered himself a traditional conservative "cut from the cloth of Jefferson and Jackson," was known for his conservative views, even by Southern standards. Given his Old Right and Southern views, he was more conservative than most in the Republican Party. The American Conservative Union gave him a perfect score of 100 most of the years he was in the Senate.

In 1984, ridding the Reagan coattails in Georgia, McDonald was re-elected with over 55%, defeating Democrat Lt. Governor Zell Miller.

During the mid-1980s, McDonald devoted much of his time to serving as President of the JBS. By 1990, after seven years under his leadership, the organization had more than doubled in size and become more mainstream in conservative politics.

In 1990, McDonald was easily re-elected over Democrat Andrew Young.

McDonald stepped down as JBS president in 1991 to run for presidency against George Bush.

In 1993, McDonald led the fight against the Clinton budget, failed in the House 215-219. A compromise budget, which included only a taxe increase on energy wax later passed but had no Republican support. Clinton's capitulation on the budget is seen as the start of a series of crises of leadership in the White House.

Presidential politics

McDonald endorsed Ronald Reagan for President in 1976 and was key in helping him win the Georgia primary by a landslide majority. McDonald endorsed Phil Crane for President in 1980, and then Ronald Reagan after Crane's withdraw.

In 1987, McDonald visited several early primary states to test the waters for a presidential run. McDonald decided against a run however and endorsed Pat Robertson.

In 1991, McDonald toured Iowa and New Hampshire and found a strong base of support for a primary challenge to President Bush. McDonald announced his candidacy in August 1991. His first major success came at the Ames Straw Poll where he beat Bush in a stunning upset. Over the next few months, McDonald raised nearly six million dollars and put most of it into Iowa. On February 10, 1992, McDonald won the Iowa Caucuses with 52% of the vote. Since the Democrat Iowa caucuses were largely uncontested, McDonald's victory dominated the news cycle. On February 18, McDonald led in the New Hampshire primary for most of the night, only losing his lead around 10PM. In the end, Bush won by less than 2,000 votes. The next few primaries saw Bush won everywhere except Georgia. In South Carolina, Bush out spent McDonald 4-1 and won 48%-46% over McDonald. Bush won every primary afterwards and McDonald withdrew on June 11. Bush reluctantly allowed McDonald a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Houston. McDonald's speech, which concentrated mostly on deficit spending, the liberal Congress, and the "Culture War being waged by the radical left against heartland American values”, was very well received.

After Bush's defeat, McDonald was seen by many as the conservative front-runner going into 1996.

In June, 1995, McDonald annouced his candidacy for the presidency in Atlanta, Georgia. mcDonald's first test came at the Ames Straw Poll. McDonald's main rival Bob Dole was hoping to win since Alan Keyes, Phil Gramm, and Bob Dornan would pull votes away from McDonald. In the end, McDonald won the vote by a wide margin and established himself as the front-runner.

1995 Ames Straw Poll Results

McDonald --- 32%
Dole ---------- 23%
Gramm ------ 14%
Alexander --- 11%
Keyes ---------- 6%
Others ------- 14%

Death

On September 1, 1995, McDonald was on board a private aircraft flying from Iowa to Atlanta, just after entering Georgia airspace the pilot reported engine trouble and the plane crashed shortly afterwards, killing all four passangers (McDonald, the pilot, and two aides). An investigation concluded that mechenacial and pilot error had caused the crash. McDonald's family, many supporters and the JBS contend to this day that the plane was sabotaged and McDonald murdered to prevent him from becoming president.

Legacy

McDonald's influence in the U.S. Senate has been compaired to Barry Goldwater and Jesse Helms.

McDonald's leadership of the JBS made it a mainstream conservative organization, drwaing in hundreds of thousands of new members.

Today, 36 members of the U.S. Congress are members of JBS, including Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Jeff Flake, Trent Franks, Tom Tancredo, and Bob Barr.

 
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Moore2012

Banned
TTL vs OTL

Some of the results of Larry McDonald's extra 12 years of life are;

(1) There is no Medicare Modernization Act since the budget had to be balanced.

(2) The Budget was balanced until 2008 and TARP; It has not been balanced since. However, the deficits have been a little smaller.

(3) Current U.S. National Debt is $9,700,000,000,000

(4) The JBS is on the same level as FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity.

(5) The 2011 debt crisis resulted in a budget being passed in 2011 and 2012 with deficits of $650B and $590B respectively.
 
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Moore2012

Banned
Lary McDonald - Republican?

McDonald was a conservative Democrat, not a Republican.

True, but McDonald also belived that it did not matter which party you were in because both parties had lost their way.

The POD is the McDonald decides to run for the Senate in 1972 instead of Congress. He runs as a Republican because there are some many Demcrats running.
 

Archibald

Banned
Another monument a-hole in american politics, Jesse Helms, was a good friend of McDonald (how surprising). Have him as running mate maybe ? (Jesus: poor America. And they said Bush 43 was bad...)
 
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