1988: Pat Robertson the Republican nominee

[darklordoftech]

What if Pat Robertson was the Republican nominee?

[SingingAnalyst]

A toughie. Clearly for Robertson to win the zeitgeist would have to be even more right-wing than it was IRL in 1988. It seems certain, though, that Robertson would turn off a lot of voters, Reagan would have a hard time campaigning actively for him (as he did for Bush IRL), and a major 3rd party movement would develop.  Maybe something like this:

Dukakis/Bentsen 38% / 260 EV
Robertson/Helms 37% / 240 EV
Iacocca/Perot 24% / 38 EV

With no EV majority, the election would go to the House, which would select Dukakis/Bentsen.

[America's Sweetheart ❤/𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖞 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗]

Dukakis wins fairly easily if there's no third party. Robertson was well to the right of even Reagan.

[HomestarSB9]

Michael Dukakis (D-MA) / Llyod Bentsen (D-TX) - 475 EVs, 60% PV
Pat Robertson (R-VA) / Jesse Helms (R-NC) - 63 EVs, 39% PV

Dukakis wins in a landslide, with Robertson and Helms operating a "racist campaign" and several scandals involving children, women, and blacks.