1976 Question

[hcallega 1]

I'm in the process of making a 1976 no watergate scenario. I'm making good progress but I need help with the issues. Since Carter and Ford are not the frontrunners, I need events for candidates like Ted Kennedy, Reagan, George Wallace, and John Connaly. Just to preface, with primaries off, Ted Kennedy and John Connally are the nominees, with McCarthy the independent.

[Jackson 0]

Agnew might be an optional canidate. He had to resign because of a bribery scandal, so he should have low integrity, but I could still see him making a run if Watergate had not occcured.

[Scrivener 0]

Hm, interesting alternate history branchpoints. If Agnew did resign, Ford would be VP and therefore still a plausible frontrunner for the GOP -- except that if Watergate had not been ongoing, Nixon might have chosen someone less conciliatory to try to get through Congress. Who might that be?

And if Nelson Rockefeller hadn't been stuck as Ford's VP, and thus ineligible in any practical terms to try to unseat his boss, might he have made one last run for the White House?

And I don't see why Carter wouldn't have still been a frontrunner, unless it's because the mere presence of Ted Kennedy would suck all the oxygen out of the Democratic primaries. Which is an arguable point, I'll grant -- but then, why didn't Ted run in the real 1976?

You know, working through all the permutations of the changed history might be more fun than playing the election.

[hcallega 1]

Thanks for the help so far. I did some research (looking on message boards) about who Nixon would have chosen as VP with Agnew's non-Watergate related resignation. The consensus seems to be John Connally, the head of Democrats for Nixon, and former Democratic Governor of Texas. Ford was only the VP because House Democrats had leverage due to the impending Watergate scandal, and Ford was viewed as a moderate lightweight. As far as Nellie Rockefeller, after eight years of Nixon and with Reagan, Connally, Dole, and Minority Leader Ford running, I wonder if he would run. But I guess I'll put him in, and simply double Anderson's 1980 numbers. As far as Carter, he was only relavent because of Watergate. He was a fresh face and the anti-Nixon. Why didn't Kennedy run in 1976? Well several reasons. Firstly, he judged (and rightfully so) that Watergate not only hurt Nixon, but the entire establishment (Mo Udall losing to Carter, Reagan almost beating Ford). Also, the his only personal issues probably made him seem to much like the old-style politicians.

[Dwaz 3]

You should put something in about Chappaquiddick. I'm sure that was one of if not the biggest reason Kennedy didn't run in 72.