How could Gerald Ford have won 1976?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Ford should have selected Reagan as his running mate.  Reagan, if asked, would have done so, and would have helped.

That's a 281-257 Ford victory.  Iowa and Maine would have gone Carter's way, but that would hae been offset by Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas going for Ford.  I kept Alabama in the Democratic column, but that was because of Wallace's endorsement of Carter.

[RosettaStoned]

  Ford lost the election when he pardoned Nixon. 

[Person Man]

  Ford lost the election when he pardoned Nixon. 

Would a trial during the election help?

[Buffalo Bill]

  Ford lost the election when he pardoned Nixon. 

Would a trial during the election help?

This election was way too close for it to be about something so big.  People had forgotten about Nixon by 1976. 

[President Johnson]

  Ford lost the election when he pardoned Nixon. 

Would a trial during the election help?

This election was way too close for it to be about something so big.  People had forgotten about Nixon by 1976. 

I wouldn't say forgotton, but the pardon was not a big issue. Carter did not attack him for this.

[Metalhead123]

I think Eugene McCarthy's run as an independent might have costed Ford the election. A lot of the state that Carter barely edged out Ford in were only won by a plurality. To be fair, I don't know who McCarthy affected more but yet again maybe he had no affect at all. I do think Fords comments on there being no Soviet domination in east Europe costed him the election. Perhaps if not for that statement, ford would have fared better in some of the closer races and won the election.

[Kingpoleon]

I think Eugene McCarthy's run as an independent might have costed Ford the election. A lot of the state that Carter barely edged out Ford in were only won by a plurality. To be fair, I don't know who McCarthy affected more but yet again maybe he had no affect at all. I do think Fords comments on there being no Soviet domination in east Europe costed him the election. Perhaps if not for that statement, ford would have fared better in some of the closer races and won the election.

Eugene McCarthy may very well have taken liberals in the mold of John Lindsay from Ford. I think the gaffe may have helped him a little in extremely hawkish states like Mississippi.

[sg0508]

McCarthy hurt Carter, not Ford.  McCarthy got Ford over the top in IA, OR and maybe one or two other small states.

Ford was a bit screwed because of the Nixon pardon, the sluggish economy and the fracture between the moderate and growing conservative wing.  He put Dole on the ticket to help with conservatives, but Dole was blah. Had he put Rockefeller on, that could have helped in the industrial states of NY, PA and OH, but maybe not...and, it could have killed Ford with conservatives out west.

That race was Carter's to lose and he almost managed to do that.

[Badger]

Ford also came extremely close in HI, FWIW.

[Nym90]

Ford also came extremely close in HI, FWIW.

Yeah, Hawaii likes incumbents....incumbent Republican Presidents have always done surprisingly well there. I remember Michael Barone in his great book "From Roosevelt to Reagan" hypothesizing that Asian-Americans/Pacific Islanders have greater respect for authority/leadership as the explanation, as well as wanting to not be seen as outside the mainstream of American society. I don't agree with many of Barone's musings on the causes of phenomena but he raises valid points worth considering.

[Lothal1]

If the election went on for one or two more weeks Gerald Ford would have been relected. If he surged earlier he would have won.

[Sedona]

Ford certainly could have won if the election had continued for a little bit more.  Things were already moving in his direction, and the economy was looking up to a certain extent.

Ford should have selected Reagan as his running mate.  Reagan, if asked, would have done so, and would have helped.

Absolutely not.  Reagan may have been beloved by the party base, but in 1976 he was almost as frightening to the general population as Barry Goldwater was in 1964.  On the other hand, if he had stuck with Rockefeller, he could have further alienated the Reaganites, though they still might have swallowed their pride and vote for Ford regardless.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Ford certainly could have won if the election had continued for a little bit more.  Things were already moving in his direction, and the economy was looking up to a certain extent.

Ford should have selected Reagan as his running mate.  Reagan, if asked, would have done so, and would have helped.

Absolutely not.  Reagan may have been beloved by the party base, but in 1976 he was almost as frightening to the general population as Barry Goldwater was in 1964.  On the other hand, if he had stuck with Rockefeller, he could have further alienated the Reaganites, though they still might have swallowed their pride and vote for Ford regardless.

Reagan was NOT frightening to the American public in 1976; that was wishful liberal thinking.

Reagan was smooth and likeable in ways few Movement Conservatives are.  He was also an includer; he wasn't the kind of Movement Conservative who called every moderate Republican a RINO. 

[Wade McDaniel]

A few thousand more votes in Ohio should've done the trick along with a few thousand more in Hawaii.