Bentsen v Bush '88

[Ben.]

Bentsen in a heart beat, he and John Glenn and perhaps Hugh Carey and Mario Cumo where the outstanding Democrats of their generation

Bentsen would probably pick Gore or Gephardt to be his running mate and i think the election would be really close...



Bentsen/ Gephardt (DEM) : 292

Bush/ Quayle (REP) : 246

...that said TX, LA, AR, IL, NJ and PA would have all been close between Bentsen and Bush, that said in the end i think that perhaps the Reagan effect could have thrown the election to Bush by the slimmest of margins, but it really really would be close  

[Ben.]

I think it may have looked something like this...



Lloyd Bentsen/Richard Gephardt (D) 274
George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle (R) 261

But I agree, it would have been VERY close and a lot of states could have gone either way.

Bentsen would have won some southern states, Bush (41) did not have the southern appeal that his son does and Bentsen was a quintessentially southern breed of Democrat.