If Only Bob Dole Beat Bush, Sr. in '88

[liberalpragmatist]

Had Bob Dole won the Republican nomination in '88 (support for GHWB was tepid, even though he was the incumbent veep) Dole would probably have beaten Dukakis. But he'd likely have also lost to Clinton in '92 and we'd be spared the Bush dynasty.

Of course, we could go further and say if only Gary Hart didn't have monkey business or Mario Cuomo had run in '88 then maybe we'd also have been spared the Bush dynasty.

[AntiCoup2K4]

1. Did Dole run in 88?

I seem to remember Poppy's most notable primary opponent being none other than....

[liberalpragmatist]

2. Yeah, he ran

Our dear friend Pat Robertson ran as well, but when I read up on the history of the campaign Dole did run and a lot of GOP'ers thought he'd beat Bush. They were even in NH, etc. and he got the endorsements of lots of prominent Republicans. Plus, I also read that Reagan didn't make an endorsement, saying he wanted to stay out of it.

[blackangrydem]

3. If Dole had won in '88 would he have likely lost in '92?

Remember one thing that really hurt GHWB in 92 was his "no new taxes" pledge. How would Dole have done? Would he have fought the 1st Gulf War?


Had Dole been re-elected in '92, his VP would have run in '96. Who would that have been? Jack Kemp? Jack Danforth? Who would the Democrat have been in '96? Surely Clinton. Gore?

It's fun to imagine...

[jsw_81]

4. If only Reagan hadn't picked Bush for VP in '80

That one decision gave us Poppy, Dubya *and* Jeb. :sad:

[blackangrydem]

5. Do you remember who was on the short list for Reagan's VP in 80?

GHW Bush
Bob Dole
John Connelly
Gerald Ford
George Shultz


Yes, I'm old and a poltical junkie.