Trump was the first Republican nominee since Ford or H.W Bush who was not a hard line Christian theocrat. This certainly helped in the Upper Midwest, West Coast, Northeast and especially New England, which have been disgusted by GOP social Conservatism.
Ah yes, Dole, McCain, and Romney were well-known "Christian theocrats."
No...but they had no personality. Lifeless candidates who ran lifeless campaigns in political climates that didn't favor them
Bob Dole is a very funny person. Maybe he didn't show that enough in 1996. I remember at the 1988 Republican Convention in his speech he said "America doesn't need Michael Dukakis and his Dukakied ideas."
That made me laugh.