Starting Over: Carter re-elected in 1980

[SingingAnalyst]

Carter/Mondale 46.02% / 297 EV
Reagan/Bush 45.75% / 241 EV
Anderson/Lucey 6.61% / 0 EV

Carter sought to portray Reagan as an extremist, and it worked. On the first anniversary of the seizure of 63 Americans in Tehran, President Jimmy Carter was narrowly re-elected.

Do the hostages still come home Jan. 20 as IRL? Does the religious right take shape as IRL?

Also, in this ATL this is the first election to speak of in which women cast the deciding votes, voting 50/43 Carter while men voted 49/42 Reagan. Is a woman nominee and President soon to follow?

[UnselfconsciousTeff]

I think the 2nd Carter adminnistration is lackluster at best and Hoover 2.0 at worst... if the hostages dont come home by jan 20 then i think that the 2nd Carter administration would be more aggressive towards with Iran and put sanctions on the country... maybe even supporting Iraq in the Iraq-Iran war but i dont know if Carter will do that because muh human rights.....


The GOP will then see that conservatism failed because first Goldwater in 64 and now Reagan losing i think they will noiminate someone like Dole or Bush in 84 (80 bush isnt 88 bush) the Democrats will nominate Mondale/Ferrarro as in OTL...

 Does the religious right take shape as IRL? yes because the religious right wasnt an thing until 88 when Robertson ran for president

[SingingAnalyst]

The religious right probably reached its apogee in 1988, with Pat Robertson running for President, but it probably started in 1979 when the Rev. Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority. The religious right was credited with many of Reagan's razor-thin victories in the South in 1980, and for defeating Senators Birch Bayh (D-IN), Frank Church (D-ID) and George McGovern (D-SD) that same year.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I think the success of the Operation Eagle Claw would be essential for Carter's reelection.

[S019]

Mondale loses badly in 1984, GOP probably nominated Kemp or Bob Dole, they handle the Kuwait War, well, but not as well as Bush, so Mario Cuomo jumps in and is nominated, he picks David Boren for Vice President, and they win in 1988. In 1992, a frustrated conservative wing nominates Phil Gramm, who picks Henry Heinz to balance the ticket. The Republican Revolution still happens, because Cuomo pushes for a liberal agenda. The growing economy still happens. So Dan Boren wins the WH with Chuck Robb as a running mate, in 1996,  defeating John Ashcroft and Nancy Kassebaum. The GOP has lost a bunch of elections, by now, so in 2000, they go all in on conservatism, nominating, Bob Smith and Jon Kyl, the Democrats win in 2000, by 2004, however the nation is in war and the economy is not growing as much, Chuck Robb runs with Zell Miller in 2004 and loses to George Allen and John Sununu. However, in 2008, the economy still crashes, so George Allen loses. More conservative Democratic party, and Republicans go far right

[connally68]

The only way Carter could win in 1980 was if Ford won in 1976. Carter would have won in 80 by a landslide if only he lost the first time around.

[brucejoel99]

He gets saddled with the Volcker Recession & suffers further losses in Congress in 1982. If the economy is still in bad shape in 1984, then the Republicans certainly win. If it's as good as it originally was, than Mondale probably still loses due to "malaise" towards Carter's policies & lackluster personality. I imagine Bush wins the nomination & the Presidency.

I don't know if the hostages would've been released. Carter had been demonized as the "Great Satan" in Iran. Without a change of leadership, there's no excuse to release them.

The Religious Right would've been unsucceesful in having denied Carter a second term, but probably would've done everything it could've to oppose him from then on out, so it probably still becomes what it is today one way or another.

[Alben Barkley]

The Religious Right would've been unsucceesful in having denied Carter a second term, but probably would've done everything it could've to oppose him from then on out, so it probably still becomes what it is today one way or another.

Funny thing is Carter was far more religious than Reagan.