1940: Roosevelt/Truman vs. Taft/Vandenberg

[President Johnson]

1940: Conservative Senator Bob Taft defeats Wendell Willkie for the GOP nomination. He picks Senator Arthur Vandenberg as his running mate. Taft faces President Roosevelt in the general election. In this scenario, Democrats already pick Senator Harry S. Truman as vice presidential nominee, because he appeals to moderates and FDR to liberals.

How is the election turning out? I'm pretty sure Taft underperforms Willkie's election result.

[RogueBeaver]

Taft might be better able to rally conservatives but would lose moderates and indies. Truman wouldn't be picked in 1940 because he was still the Senator from Pendergast, an opinion which FDR and the Dem establishment shared. Plus he had an excruciating primary which he only won by a few thousand votes.

[Sir Mohamed]

Taft might be better able to rally conservatives but would lose moderates and indies. Truman wouldn't be picked in 1940 because he was still the Senator from Pendergast, an opinion which FDR and the Dem establishment shared. Plus he had an excruciating primary which he only won by a few thousand votes.

^^That's true. FDR had run with Wallace or Byrnes.

But Taft would have underperformed the charismatic and liberal Willkie.

Franklin D. Roosevelt/Henry Wallace: 481 EV. (57%)
Bob Taft/Arthur H. Vandenberg: 50 EV. (41%)