How would 1972 have fared with George Wallace as the VP nominee? (user search)
       |           

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 29, 2024, 04:20:29 AM
News: Election Simulator 2.0 Released. Senate/Gubernatorial maps, proportional electoral votes, and more - Read more

  Talk Elections
  Presidential Elections - Analysis and Discussion
  U.S. Presidential Election Results (Moderator: Dereich)
  How would 1972 have fared with George Wallace as the VP nominee? (search mode)
Pages: [1]
Author Topic: How would 1972 have fared with George Wallace as the VP nominee?  (Read 1079 times)
morgankingsley
Junior Chimp
*****
Posts: 5,018
United States


« on: July 12, 2019, 08:36:05 PM »

There was never any consideration for a McGovern-Wallace ticket, but as the story goes, the Humphrey-Wallace pairing came up to stop McGovern at the convention.  McGovern came into the convention with a near majority of the votes (he had won a winner-take-all primary in California), but the anti-McGovern forces came up with a resolution to invalidate the winner-take-all (which was defeated).

You would have to look at this situation from the eyes of 1972.  Wallace is seen today viewed in the light of his first term activities as governor and his 1968 campaign (though his mea culpas and later years as governor should also be considered--and in the 1982 governor election, he received all of the black vote).  But in 1972, the busing issue truly catapulted him as a serious candidate--not only in the South (he won Florida by a big margin) but running very strongly in primary states like Wisconsin and Massachusetts (!).   

We'll never know how many additional states a Humphrey-Wallace pairing would have picked up, but there would have been a significant increase in the popular vote (after all, the Humphrey-Wallace combination vote in 1968 was 57%).

I would say at least Minnesota, Alabama and Missippi go democrat. Which is enough to give them 43 electoral votes and push Nixon under 500. Humphrey and Wallace could work some magic to flip Wisconsin which is another 11, so 54 there as a result. Wallace absolutely decimated Humphrey and Nixon in Georgia and Lousiana, so those 22 might go to them, which is 76. Rhode Island might flip, which is 4, so 80. Say they decided to steal a electoral vote from Maine, which is on paper allowed now, that would give them 81.

This map I can actually see feasibly happening, minus maybe Maine second district. On a best case map, I can see West Virginia and Arkansas flipping, for 93 electoral votes. A clear defeat, but still by comparison to the 17 we had, a much closer race.
Logged
Pages: [1]  
Jump to:  


Login with username, password and session length

Terms of Service - DMCA Agent and Policy - Privacy Policy and Cookies

Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines

Page created in 0.018 seconds with 13 queries.