Who would you say are the most well known presidential loser to never make it

[Username MechaRFK]

to the White House?

I might have to go with Al Gore but Ross Perot, Bob Dole, John McCain, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Stevenson and Thomas E Dewey are up there. Henry Clay but I'm not convinced any pre 20 century candidate would come to mind in most people since most people tend to be ignorant about subjects such as history and politics.

[Username MechaRFK]

Henry Clay. Nuff said.

I said about how ignorant most are when it comes to politics and history. I willing to bet Robert Dole is more known by the general public then Henry Clay since Dole has appeared in commercials and tv shows.

[Username MechaRFK]

Even if you believe the conspiracy about Illinois and Texas in 1960, JFK won the popular vote by a larger margin than those two states flipped to Nixon and if they hadn't stolen the race, it would have been a travesty of the electoral process a la 2000.


The only other election besides 2000 that can truly be called stolen in US history without bias hackery is 1876.

And don't forget the stolen election of 1888. Combine that with 1876 and 2000, the only three elections to have the popular vote lose to the EC winner.


And can we not ruined my thread by talking about stolen elections. If you want to chat about that subject try starting a thread about it.

And good choice lowtech redneck. I hadn't thought about him but a very good choice right there for William Bryan.

[Username MechaRFK]

^ You forgot 1824.

Yes I did. Thank you for that election too.

[Username MechaRFK]

Back on topic,, I would like to mention Walter Mondale as another name to the list.

[Username MechaRFK]

1888 was not stolen.  Cleveland won the South virtually uncontested while Harrison won his states by smaller margins, thus Cleveland ended up with more PV.

1876 was a backroom political boss deal to let Hayes be President so the Democrats would get considerations in Congress and was a large part of the reason the electoral college in each state is now allocated directly on the popular vote winner instead of letting electors have a legitimate say in how they vote.

As for your thread topic, I would have to agree with above.  William Jennings Bryan was basically a celebrity in his day.  The only modern loser to hold true national name recognition at time of declaration of candidacy (and not be a VP like HHH, Gore or Mondale) was H. Ross Perot.

What about Bob Dole and John McCain? I wouldn't count them out(though Dole was VP pick for Ford).

[Username MechaRFK]

1888 was not stolen.  Cleveland won the South virtually uncontested while Harrison won his states by smaller margins, thus Cleveland ended up with more PV.

Harrison won his states because the Democrats political machines hated Cleveland so they rigged it for Harrison.

Pretty much this and why the Dems didn't nominated a gold democrat back in 1896.

[Username MechaRFK]

Both John Kerry and Al Gore were people who everyone thought would win, and they lost.

Both John Kerry and Al Gore were neil bitting Bush in the polls but still weren't really the favorites in the election. Actually, Bush was beating Gore in most polls back in 2000 according to phk. Gore and Kerry weren't strong candidates to run for president and this is coming from a independent democrat that dispise Bush and co.

[Username MechaRFK]

to the White House?

I might have to go with Al Gore but Ross Perot, Bob Dole, John McCain, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Stevenson and Thomas E Dewey are up there. Henry Clay but I'm not convinced any pre 20 century candidate would come to mind in most people since most people tend to be ignorant about subjects such as history and politics.

I think Henry Clay is more well known to the average person than Stevenson or Dewey, and for younger people Goldwater and McGovern arent that well known.

I'd go with Dukakis, Kerry and Gore from recent years.  Burr and Clay from the past.

AARON BURR! Sorry if I'm acting like Boss Tweed but I think the Burr-Hamliton feud was one of the greatest of all time. Why Kerry and Dukakis? Not to say they are unknown but not two of the most widely known presidential candidates of the past.

[Username MechaRFK]

What about good ol' George McClellan?

Probably not.