Most electable candidates 1960-2016

[BushKerry04]

In both political parties, which primary Presidential candidates do you believe where the most electable? Even if the party's nominee won, there could be a candidate who had a greater likelihood of winning or who would have won by a more comfortable margin. I'm curious to see what everyone thinks.

1960: Richard Nixon (R) Lyndon Johnson (D)
1964: Nelson Rockefeller (R) Lyndon Johnson (D)
1968: George Romney (R) Hubert Humphrey (D)
1972: Richard Nixon (R) Ed Muskie (D)
1976: Ronald Reagan (R) Lloyd Bensten (D)
1980: Ronald Reagan (R) Jerry Brown (D)
1984: Ronald Reagan (R) John Glenn (D)
1988: Jack Kemp (R) Gary Hart (D)
1992: George Bush (R) Bill Clinton (D)
1996: Lamar Alexander (R) Bill Clinton (D)
2000: John McCain (R) Al Gore (D)
2004: George W. Bush (R) Wesley Clark (D)
2008: Mitt Romney (R) Barack Obama (D)
2012: Jon Huntsman (R) Barack Obama (D)
2016: Rand Paul (R) Bernie Sanders (D)

[TheSaint250]

1960: Richard Nixon
1964: Lyndon Johnson (he was pretty undefeatable at the time)
1968: Hubert Humphrey
1972: Richard Nixon
1976: Lloyd Bentsen
1980: Ronald Reagan
1984: Ronald Reagan
1988: Gary Hart
1992: Bill Clinton
1996: Bill Clinton
2000: John McCain
2004: George W. Bush
2008: Barack Obama
2012: John Hunstman, Jr.
2016: Rand Paul

EDIT: I thought we could just pick from those above.  Oops.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

2016: Hillary and Trump
2012: Obama and Romney
2008: Obama and McCain
2004: Kerry and Bush
2000: Gore and McCain
1996: Clinton and Dole
1992: Clinton and Bush

[Mr. Smith]

1960: JFK/Nixon
1964: LBJ/Scranton
1968: Humphrey/Nixon
1972: Muskie/Nixon
1976: Carter/Reagan
1980: Carter/Reagan
1984: Hart/Reagan
1988: Gore/Dole
1992: B. Clinton/Bush Sr
1996: B. Clinton/Alexander
2000: Gore/McCain
2004: Kerry/Bush Jr
2008: H. Clinton/McCain
2012: Obama/Cain
2016: H. Clinton/Trump  

[HisGrace]

60- JFK/Nixon
64- Johnson/Romney
68- Kennedy/Rockefeller
72- Humphrey/Nixon
76- Carter/Ford (the country wasn't ready for Reagan yet in 76)
80- Kennedy/Reagan
84- Mondale/Reagan
88- Dukakis/Bush
92- Clinton/Bush
96- Clinton/Dole
2000- Gore/Bush
2004- Edwards/Bush
2008- Obama/McCain
2012- Obama/Romney
2016- Clinton/Kasich (Bernie would have been torn apart in the general. I gave some thought to O'Malley and Webb, but I don't think they'd have done any better )

[Kingpoleon]

1960: Symington/Kennedy, Underwood/Rockefeller
1964: Johnson, Rockefeller/Lodge
1968: Moore/Kennedy, Rockefeller/Baker
1972: Sanford/Bayh/Lindsay, Nixon
1976: Udall, Ford
1980: Kennedy/Finch, Baker
1984: Askew, Reagan
1988: Gore, Kemp
1992: Tsongas, Bush
1996: Clinton, Forbes
2000: Gore, Kasich
2004: Clark/Dean, Bush
2008: Bayh/Biden, Giuliani
2012: Obama, Huntsman/Pawlenty
2016: O'Malley, Kasich

[OSR stands with Israel]

Republicans:

1960: Richard Nixon
1964: Nelson Rockefeller
1968: Nelson Rockefeller
1972: Richard Nixon
1976: Ronald Reagan
1980: Ronald Reagan
1984: Ronald Reagan
1988: George HW Bush
1992: George HW Bush
1996: Bob Dole
2000: John McCain
2004: George W Bush
2008: John McCain
2012: Mitt Romney
2016: John Kasich


Democrats:

1960: JFK
1964: LBJ
1968: Hubert Humphrey
1972: Henry Jackson
1976: Jimmy Carter
1980: Ted Kennedy
1984: Gary Hart
1988: Al Gore
1992: Bill Clinton
1996: Bill Clinton
2000: Al Gore
2004: Dick Gephardt
2008: Hillary Clinton(I think she wins Arkansas Missouri and maybe WV making up for losing NC)
2012: Barack Obama
2016: Jim Webb

[OSR stands with Israel]

1960: Symington/Kennedy, Underwood/Rockefeller
1964: Johnson, Rockefeller/Lodge
1968: Moore/Kennedy, Rockefeller/Baker
1972: Sanford/Bayh/Lindsay, Nixon
1976: Udall, Ford
1980: Kennedy/Finch, Baker
1984: Askew, Reagan
1988: Gore, Kemp
1992: Tsongas, Bush
1996: Clinton, Forbes
2000: Gore, Kasich
2004: Clark/Dean, Bush
2008: Bayh/Biden, Giuliani
2012: Obama, Huntsman/Pawlenty
2016: O'Malley, Kasich

How does Baker win more then 489 Electoral Votes:


This is his ceiling in my opinion :

He only gets to 460 with that ,29 short of what Reagan got

[Sir Mohamed]

On both sides:

1960: John F. Kennedy / Richard Nixon
1964: Lyndon B. Johnson (unbeatable) / Nelson Rockefeller
1968: Robert Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson / George Romney, Nelson Rockefeller (tied)
1972: Richard Nixon (unbeatable) / Henry Jackson
1976: Jimmy Carter / Gerald Ford
1980: Ronald Reagan / Jerry Brown (Brown only because the alternatives are worse in terms of electability)
1984: Ronald Reagan (unbeatable) / Gary Hart
1988: George Bush / Al Gore
1992: Bill Clinton / George Bush
1996: Bill Clinton / Bob Dole
2000: John McCain / Al Gore
2004: George W. Bush / Howard Dean
2008: Barack Obama / Mitt Romney
2012: Barack Obama / Mitt Romney
2016: Joe Biden / John Kasich

[Phony Moderate]

Dems:

1960 - I dunno. LBJ might have struggled to bring out liberals and minorities in the North. He'd have swept the South of course but JFK managed to virtually sweep the South anyway. So I'm inclined to say JFK.

1964 - LBJ, quite clearly.

1968 - RFK due to his charisma.

1972 - Probably HHH.

1976 - This was the year of the outsider and Carter was just that.

1980 - Possibly Brown, actually. Lacks Teddy's baggage and Carter's record in the White House.

1984 - Unfortunately, Gary Hart, followed by John Glenn.

1988 - Al Gore

1992 - Clinton, although Tsongas and Kerrey would almost certainly have won too

2000 - Bradley

2004 - Probably Edwards or Gephardt. Kerry lacked the everyman appeal. Dean would have been buried in an avalanche of attack ads even greater than that suffered by Kerry.

2008 - Obama, then Biden, then Richardson. It's possible that Hillary might have found a way to lose, even under such favorable circumstances.

2016 - Sanders and O'Malley would have won, the others didn't/wouldn't


Reps:

1960 - Nixon
1964 - Rocky had too much baggage to even come close but he'd have done a bit better than Goldwater
1968 - Probably only Nixon had the political skills to capture the anger of the "silent majority" without coming off as an extremist.
1976 - Unfortunately Reagan, though he might still have come up short.
1980 - Reagan
1988 - Dole would have won by a bigger margin, I suspect
1992 - Buchanan might have done scarily well, but Bush
1996 - Maybe Pete Wilson
2000 - McCain
2008 - Given the circumstances, probably Huckabee's populism would have done the GOP some good
2012 - Not Romney or Huntsman. Inclined to say Newt on the basis of him being a leading figure from 'happier times'.
2016 - Even with all the baggage, Christie. Rubio would have gone down badly, as would have Cruz. Kasich would have probably won a very low-energy election on a low turnout.

[RC (a la Frémont)]

Democrats:
1960: LBJ
1964: LBJ
1968: RFK, McCarthy
1972: Muskie
1976: Bentsen, Scoop Jackson
1980: Ted Kennedy
1984: Hart
1988: Jesse Jackson
1992: Clinton
1996: Clinton
2000: Gore
2004: Dean
2008: Clinton, Obama
2012: Obama
2016: O'Malley, Sanders, Biden (if he ran)

Republican
1960: Nixon, Rockefeller
1964: Rockefeller
1968: Romney, Rockefeller, Nixon
1972: Nixon
1976: Reagan
1980: Reagan
1984: Reagan
1988: Kemp
1992: Bush
1996: Alexander, Specter
2000: McCain, Bush
2004: Bush
2008: McCain, Romney
2012: Romney, Huntsman
2016: Kasich, JEB!

[America Needs R'hllor]

Democrats:
1960: John Kennedy
1964: Lyndon Johnson
1968: Robert Kennedy
1972: Scoop Jackson
1976: Birch Bayh
1980: Ted Kennedy
1984: John Glenn
1988: Al Gore
1992: Bill Clinton
1996: Bill Clinton
2000: Al Gore
2004: Howard Dean
2008: Barack Obama
2012: Barack Obama
2016: Bernie Sanders

Republicans:
1960: Richard Nixon
1964: Nelson Rockfeller
1968: George Romney
1972: Richard Nixon
1976: Ronald Reagen
1980: Ronald Reagen
1984: Ronald Reagen
1988: George H.W. Bush
1992: George H.W. Bush
1996: Arlen Specter
2000: John McCain
2004: George W. Bush
2008: Mitt Romney
2012: Jon Huntsman
2016: John Kasich

[President Johnson]

Democrats:
1960: John F. Kennedy
1964: Lyndon Johnson
1968: Lyndon Johnson (master politican, incumbent)
1972: Scoop Jackson
1976: Jimmy Carter
1980: Jerry Brown (poor alternatives)
1984: John Glenn
1988: Al Gore
1992: Jerry Brown (no scandals)
1996: Bill Clinton
2000: Al Gore
2004: Wesley Clark (national security expertise)
2008: Barack Obama
2012: Barack Obama
2016: Bernie Sanders (due to Hillary's baggage and demand for an outsider)


Republicans:
1960: Richard Nixon
1964: Nelson Rockefeller
1968: Nelson Rockefeller
1972: Richard Nixon
1976: Gerald Ford
1980: George Bush (would have won bigger at least in the popular vote, no Anderson candidacy)
1984: Ronald Reagan
1988: George Bush
1992: George Bush
1996: Richard Lugar
2000: John McCain
2004: George W. Bush
2008: Mitt Romney
2012: Jon Huntsman
2016: John Kasich (would have won the popular vote against Hillary)

[OSR STANDS WITH PALESTINE]

Democrats:
1960- JFK
1964- LBJ (this is obvious, he's one of the best democratic presidents)
1968- Robert F Kennedy
1972- Hubert Humphrey (tho I don't think any dem would be Nixon)
1976- Jimmy Carter (great guy)
1980- Ted Kennedy
1984- Jerry Brown
1988- Al Gore
1992- Jerry Brown
1996- Sadly, Bill Clinton
2000- Al Gore
2004- my boi John Kerry
2008- John Edwards
2012- Barack Obama
2016- Bernie, O'Malley

Republicans
1960- Richard Nixon
1964- Rockefeller (he woulda been a better nominee then Goldwater, but still woulda lost to LBJ)
1968- Richard Nixon
1972- Richard Nixon
1976- Ronald Reagan
1980- Ronald Reagan (he was the best president)
1984- Ronald Reagan
1988- Jack Kemp
1992- H W Bush
1996- Bob Dole (would've been a fantastic president)
2000- Dubya
2004- Dubya
2008- Mike Huckabee
2012- John Huntsman Jr
2016- John Kasich