What if Reagan had beaten Ford in the Republican presidential primary in 1976? Would he had a chance to beat Carter in the general election?
If Carter had won, would Reagan be in a position to win in 1980, or would he have lost his real ‘chance’?
For that matter, why did Ford, who was never elected President to begin with, beat the popular and (more conservative) Reagan in 1976 to begin with? Did Reagan ever have a chance?
Ennhhh. He wouldn’t have had the albatross of Nixon hanging around his neck, and he would be seen as less of an insider. Reagan might have lost New England, but he would probably have gotten at least a bit of the South, such as Mississippi and Alabama, from Carter. Enough to win? Quite possibly, but it would have been difficult.
It’s awfully difficult to win once you’ve lost.
Reagan was quite close to beating Ford; the only reason he didn’t, in my opinion, is Ford’s incumbency factor.
Nixon was a fresh memory.
Of course, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
Nixon’s an exception; he managed to win after having lost twice in a row. Of course, he had six years to recover after his second loss (not to mention that he was able to exploit a new break in the Democratic Party), and Reagan would only have four.
Ford and Carter was a very close race. Would Reagan have had the machine in 76 that he had in 80? I think he would have carried California, but so did Ford.