The Great Primary: Republicans

[Einzige Mk. II]

Imagine if you will a world in which the spirits of the dead have returned to make visitations upon us, the living. The dead - and the politically dead, who are often the same - have decided to return to their past vocation. Towards this end every President of the 20th century has been allowed the opportunity to enter into the ranks of his Party and compete for the nomination of that Party for the Presidency of the United States in 2012.

The rules are these: the world has changed; these men have not. They are re-emerging in history exactly as they were as they left it, and may have a Hell of a time adjusting to that fact.

With that in mind, Republicans, these are your candidates:

William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Warren Gamaliel Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Dwight Eisenhower
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Ronald Reagan
George Herbert Walker Bush
George Walker Bush

Every man will compete in this primary, and every man is for himself. Each will campaign fully for the nomination regardless of ties of family or friendship. I leave the arrangements for the maps up to you.

[Einzige Mk. II]

Assuming name recognition stays the same, Reagan wins every primary in a landslide.

Name recognition stays the same, but all candidates have access to modern media. Also, just because they may be stuck in the 20th century doesn't mean that their campaign managers have to be as well.

[Einzige Mk. II]

Roosevelt would be the early frontrunner, but his campaign would meet a similar fate to that of Giuliani's in 2008. It would end up being a close race between Eisenhower and Reagan, with W. Bush a strong third (with most of his support coming from the 'national security' types and those on the Religious Right who consider Reagan to be too soft on social issues). Harding and Coolidge would spilt the 'internet libertarian' vote. As for the others....well....they'd have a better chance in the Democratic version.

As with the other, any thoughts on a map?

[Einzige Mk. II]

hoover, taft, harding, coolidge, McKinley and nixon support reagan. bush sr. supports eisenhower.

I'd suggest that Hoover and Taft would endorse Roosevelt - both being significantly to the left on issues of economics and foreign policy than Reagan - and McKinley would probably throw his weight behind George W. Bush. Harding and Coolidge would probably strike a deal between themselves, and Nixon would never bow out.

My view is that the race would come down to six men:

Theodore Roosevelt
Warren Harding or Calvin Coolidge
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Richard Nixon
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush

Which offers up a lot of possibility for conservative vote splitting.

[Einzige Mk. II]

Hoover would endorse Ford, Ike, or Harding/Coolidge.

Ford is a distinct possibility, but I should think that Hoover's background as a non-interventionist during the Great War would make him leery of Ike. And Hoover was a break from the Harding and Coolidge years, so I can't quite see that, either, though I must admit it remains possible, if not, to my mind, plausible.