They almost surely would’ve lost in the fall to Reagan-Bush, just as Carter-Mondale did, but I wonder. In his what-if thriller Shall We Tell the President?, author Jeffrey Archer has Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) as Teddy’s running mate. Plausible? Who else would’ve been a good addition to the ticket, assuming Ted beat Jimmy Carter for the nomination that year?
It’s a pretty big assumption in itself that Kennedy would displace Carter. Carter wasn’t nearly as bad as Franklin Pierce.
Had Kennedy run in 1984 with Gary Hart on the ticket…
Dude, that was 29 years ago. I have to pause to remember what I did for a living in 1980 (It changed between March and April).
“Had Kennedy run in 1984 with Gary Hart on the ticket…” There’d be scandals but, if their notoriety offset their name appeal, it would’ve been interesting, if completely unsuccessful. The Dems couldn’t mount such a ticket before 2000.
Ted Kennedy’s VP choice had he been nominated in 1980? It would’ve depended upon at what point he would’ve clinched the nomination. I think if he overtook Carter late in the game (e.g., just before or at the Democratic Convention), he might have picked John Anderson–the liberal Republican who initially sought the GOP nomination but ended up running as an independent–as his running mate. Shortly before the convention, there was meeting between Anderson and Kennedy after which there was speculation in the press that there might’ve been an agreement that if Kennedy got the nomination, Anderson would cancel his third party bid in return for either the VP spot on the ticket or a cabinet position.
Interesting; I hadn’t heard that before. My parents supported John Anderson at the time. It would’ve been a nice bipartisan gesture by Kennedy if it had come to that, kind of like Clinton considering Powell as a running mate in 1996, Kerry considering McCain in 2004, or McCain yearning for Joe Lieberman last year.
If Kennedy had managed to wrestle the nomination away from Carter in 1980, he would have torn the Democrats apart even more than his his candidacy already had. Picking a Republican for a running mate would have torn the party apart even more. More likely he would have chosen a more traditional running mate to balance out the ticket. It’s likely that the Southern wing would have lined up solidly behind Carter (except for Mississippi governor Cliff Finch, so someone from the West would have been a better choice.
There were a number of western Democrats that could have been appeakling choices. Off the top of my head, California governor Jerry Brown, Idaho senator Frank Church, Washington senator Scoop Jackson and Arizona congressman Mo Udall all would have been politically viable VP picks.
John Anderson? Maybe a cabinet position, but never VP.
Well, exactly what Anderson and Kennedy agreed to was speculation and quickly forgotten once Kennedy lost the nomination and Reagan defeated Carter. I just remember the Anderson-as-a-running-mate possibility being discussed. If it had happened, I disagree with you on the Democrats being further torn apart. Anderson had a lot appeal among independents and reform-minded Democrats who were let down by Carter’s ineffectual leadership. There was also still a notable contingent of slightly left-of-center Republicans who were disturbed at sharp shift to right the party had taken with Reagan. Having Anderson as his VP pick would’ve made the Democratic ticket more attractive to these voters.
Still, I do think you are right and it was more likely the deal Anderson and Kennedy came to was that Anderson would drop his independent presidential bid and endorse Kennedy in return for a cabinet position.
As for Kennedy’s other possible VP picks, there’s no way he would’ve chosen Jerry Brown. Brown had so utterly embarrassed himself in his 1980 bid for the Democratic nomination that his once-bright political star was viewed to be already burning out. Plus, there was the “California flake” factor that would’ve hurt the ticket in traditional Democratic strongholds in the Midwest and Northeast.