1980 GOP primary: Reagan versus Ford again

[Sir Mohamed]

If former President Gerald Ford decided to run again in 1980, what would have happened against Reagan in the GOP primary? Assuming other candidates are irrelevant by early 1980 (HW drops out early and endorses Ford in hope to get the VP slot).

I think Reagan would have won that time. Discuss with maps.

[The Govanah Jake]

Yea he would definitely win but Ford would be a tougher candidate then Bush still

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

Reagan himself believed that Ford could have beaten him again. Make of that what you will.

[Kingpoleon]

If Ford wanted, he could have rallied the entire Midwest and East Coast against Reagan. With the support of Anderson, Bush, Weicker, Voinovich, Lindsay, Baker, and the rest, I could see him beating Reagan. I think the final ticket would be Gerald Ford/Barry Goldwater Jr.

[OSR stands with Israel]

If Ford wanted, he could have rallied the entire Midwest and East Coast against Reagan. With the support of Anderson, Bush, Weicker, Voinovich, Lindsay, Baker, and the rest, I could see him beating Reagan. I think the final ticket would be Gerald Ford/Barry Goldwater Jr.

Ford barely beat Reagan in 1976 when he was the incumbent president, and Reagan was viewed as a fringe candidate before the cycle .

In 1979 Reagan picked up many endorsements from establishment figures despite the fact that many people thought Ford would run again .

[dw93]

Supposedly Ford considered running again in 1980 but chose not to out of fear that he wouldn't be able to beat Reagan in the primaries again. I think Reagan wins in a re match. If Reagan doesn't run however and Ford does, Ford easily wins the nomination.

[President Johnson]

I think Ford would have been a stronger contender than Poppy, but Reagan would have won I guess. Ford could only barely beat the Gipper in 1976 as incumbent president. In 1980, he was a non-incumbent and lost one election to Carter. I also think he would have run in 1980 if Reagan weren't, but he was probably aware that he couldn't win. However, Ford may have beaten Carter by larger popular vote victory, because Anderson wouldn't run against Ford in the general election.

The map may look like this:

Reagan

Ford

[SamTilden2020]

Reagan wins. The only thing that pushed Ford over the top in '76 was his incumbency.