Kennedy / Johnson vs. Goldwater / Rockefeller 64

[Jerseyrules]

So lets say Barry still wins the nomination, JFK doesn't get assassinated.  Barry picks Winthrop Rockefeller (or maybe even Margret Chase Smith) as his running mate in 64, and is endorsed by prominent Rockefeller Republicans, including Romney and Rocky.  Who wins?

[Jerseyrules]

Maybe Winthrop wins in 62, then is picked by Barry because he doesn't want Nelson on the ticket?  Or maybe he picks George Romney or Margret Chase-Smith?  I'm thinking he carries the south and Midwest, holds ME and VT, maybe NH.  With Nixon campaigning a bit more aggressively, I think he could even win OH.  I'm not saying it would be a victory, but couldn't it reduce JFK's victory to about Obama's victory in 08?

[Jerseyrules]

I see something more like this:

TX, OH, IL, or PA would've flipped the election to Goldwater, who would have a monopoly on the South with the exception of TX for oblivious reasons.  This is after JFK doesn't have the political capital to pass Medicare after Civil Rights legislation and tax cuts.  He wasn't the forceful personality Johnson was, and arguably many of these things only got passed with the outpouring of sympathy after Dallas.

[Jerseyrules]

But why Winthrop Rockefeller? The man had only just been nominated for Governor earlier that year.

He's a Rockefeller without being Nelson.  He's all the advantages of having Nelson on the ticket (name recognition, uniting the party, getting Rocky's endorsement, etc.) without having to deal with Nelson personally (who Goldwater detested)