WI: Rumsfeld the Republican nominee in 1988

What if Rumsfeld was the 1988 Republican nominee? Would he call Dukakis an "old Democrat"? How would he do in the election?

1988 was a good year for the GOP, so I imagine Rumsfeld gets elected.

He probably doesn't raise taxes. He was the sort of guy who'd go to Milton Friedman lectures at the University of Chicago while he was in the house.
 
Rumsfeldia in the Decade of Tears anyone? Probably not as extreme as that but would cut welfare, transport etc., privatise services and have an aggressive foreign policy.
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
We should probably look at why Rumsfeld didn't run, instead of being a bit lazy by by-passing this bit.

On the surface, despite some intense ground work in Iowa, Rumsfeld pulled out of the Republican race in April '87. His official reason given in a memo on the termination of his proto-campaign for doing so was because of the legal complications of campaign finance laws, and his desire to 'not run a deficit' as he'd front load for the opening of the primaries.

However there are more things going on, and indeed more things than Rumsfeld would admit. While Rumsfeld was seen as a 'dark horse', he was also polling pretty poorly both in general and against the incumbent Vice President, a man whose hatred for Rumsfeld was legendary and would have done everything he could to electorally humiliate the man had he ran (and of course Rumsfeld returned the favour). As well as this, if Bob Dole still chooses to enter the picture ITTL, then it becomes a question of how much Rumsfeld can survive the squeeze. The man was politically naïve and overconfident, believing that if he held out to the Illinois primaries he could 'break through', despite the fact that had he failed to win New Hampshire in first or second he would have been dead in the water. Nixon considered him to be "like Finch. They both have the charisma for national office but neither has got the backbone".

So you know, it's a bit tricky to actually get him to nomination. But presuming he did, he would also likely have to fight off Dukakis- which in itself is easier said than done.
 

samcster94

Banned
He probably would have a a difficult time in the primary. Bush Sr. was a much better candidate and could easily be 4 more years of Reagan.
 
Rumsfeldia in the Decade of Tears anyone? Probably not as extreme as that but would cut welfare, transport etc., privatise services and have an aggressive foreign policy.

Would he? Perhaps I'm wrong, but my understanding is he became more hawkish later.


Outside of foreign policy, he had a moderate voting record in Congress.

How moderate? I recall Milton Friedman saying that not picking Rummy for veep was Reagan's worst decision, so I'm surprised he wasn't more of an economic hardliner.
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
Rumsfeldia in the Decade of Tears anyone? Probably not as extreme as that but would cut welfare, transport etc., privatise services and have an aggressive foreign policy.
Rumsfeld in Decades of Tears is, of course, a man who may have been driven mad, as well as one who has matured politically during the slow motion collapse of the American political system and in a world that is, generally speaking, worse for wear.

He's not the Rumsfeld of OTL, and deliberately so, so pointing to Rummy from Rumsfeldia is a bit like pointing to Harold Wilson from Agent Lavender as a way of getting a sense of what the man was like. It's just not going to gel because the alt-version has diverged significantly as a result of the alternate history.
 
Would he? Perhaps I'm wrong, but my understanding is he became more hawkish later.




How moderate? I recall Milton Friedman saying that not picking Rummy for veep was Reagan's worst decision, so I'm surprised he wasn't more of an economic hardliner.

IIRC he supported Civil Rights legislation in Congress including the 1964 Act. I think he also called later in his term for the military to let gays serve.

1988 was a good year for the GOP, so I imagine Rumsfeld gets elected.

He probably doesn't raise taxes. He was the sort of guy who'd go to Milton Friedman lectures at the University of Chicago while he was in the house.

He was even on Friedman's "Freedom to Choose" show on PBS

 
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