1976: Carter picks Barbara Jordan as his running mate.

[TDAS04]

The GOP ticket in 1976 is Ford/Dole as IRL, but Democratic nominee Jimmy Carter selects Barbara Jordan, a black congresswoman from Texas, as his running mate.  Would it have cost Carter the election?  Maps?

[Sumner 1868]

It would go over quite badly. Racist Dixiecrats are the voters Carter's campaign is attempting to win back. They won't vote for a ticket with a black person.

[SingingAnalyst]

1976 was perhaps the high water mark (for a while) for voters being willing to vote for a Black or a woman. Carter doesn't win, but he performs respectably:

Carter 47% / 248 EV
Ford 51% / 290 EV

[Dancing with Myself]

The move would kill Carter in that era. The south was still very narrow minded in terms of black politicians and even if Carter still ran the same campaign he wouldn't have swept the South. Without our states he didn't have his heart of strategy left and that would have been it.  What northern and western states he would have had would have went away once he fell appart like in RL due to Playboy and being out campaigned by Ford.

Ford/Dole-333
Carter/Jordan-205

I'm maybe being a little generous to Carter by giving him Tennessee and Arkansas but I'd say besides that Ford would win a comfortable but not landslide win.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

With Jordan, Carter loses the South except Georgia, and also some close states in the North.  The AIP gets more traction than otherwise, McCarthy a little less.

Ford/Dole          52.5%  434
Carter/Jordan    45.3%  104

[Dancing with Myself]

Shua you was close to my original worst case map I came close to posting. Well done

I can see AIP getting a lot of votes in the deep south due to Lester Maddox being on the ticket, he could have a bit of fresh air to attack Carter as they didn't like each other from the time Carter was governor. I could see him maybe passing Carter in Alabama if Wallace endorsed him. That's a possibility (maybe more distant than in 68 or 72,) that he wouldn't support Jimmy if he picked her. But than again he was sociable with Chisholm so who knows.

Interesting scenario though.