1996: Newt Gingrich/Christine Todd Whitman vs Bill Clinton/Al Gore

[NewYorkExpress]

Newt Gingrich runs for the Presidency in 1996, and defeats all comers for the Republican nomination. He selects Christine Todd Whitman as his running mate.

Bill Clinton and Al Gore are running for re-election.

Who wins and why (use maps, please)?

[Kingpoleon]

297: William Jefferson Clinton/Albert Gore Jr. - 39.6%
241: Newt Gingrich/Christine Todd Whitman - 40.3%
Hiram Ross Perot/Richard Lamm(Reform) - 19.2%
Others - 0.9%

[America's Sweetheart ❤/𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖞 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗]

297: William Jefferson Clinton/Albert Gore Jr. - 39.6%
241: Newt Gingrich/Christine Todd Whitman - 40.3%
Hiram Ross Perot/Richard Lamm(Reform) - 19.2%
Others - 0.9%

How does Ross Perot get almost 20% of the vote while Clinton only wins very narrowly?

[Kamala]

Why are we pretending that Christine Todd Whitman was ever popular enough to help Newt of all people to win New Jersey? She never even won a majority of the votes. I doubt she'd win NJ if she were at the top of ticket, let alone playing second fiddle.

[Kingpoleon]

Why are we pretending that Christine Todd Whitman was ever popular enough to help Newt of all people to win New Jersey? She never even won a majority of the votes. I doubt she'd win NJ if she were at the top of ticket, let alone playing second fiddle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_in_New_Jersey,_1992

[Lechasseur]

Clinton still wins, but I'd wager by 5-6 points rather than the 8-9 he got against Dole, and Gingrich wins Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona and just maybe Florida (I need to look at Florida's results) but otherwise the map is basically the same as in 1996.

[dw93]

Newt might do worse if his skeletons come out of the closet and don't forget he was seen as responsible for the Government Shutdown in 1995.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

It would have been a bloodbath. There's a reason why Clinton made so much hay over Dole's connection to Gingrich; the man was deeply unpopular in 1996. Many moderate Republicans vote for the Reform ticket, pushing Perot over the 10% mark.

Clinton/Gore - 465
Gingrich/Whitman - 73