1976 if Jimmy Carter had picked George Wallace as his running mate

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Since Wallace had basically "found God" and apologized for much of his past racism at this point, what if Carter had went all in on Southern identity politics and picked Wallace to be his VP?


Would Ford have picked a different running mate if Carter picked Wallace?

What would the map be like?

Who wins?

[bagelman]

I think Ford flips Ohio, Wisconsin, and Hawaii (which has the largest swing relative to OTL) and at the least strengthens his other marginal states. With MS solidified, this map show's Carter's only path to victory: flipping VA and OK. If he gets VA but not OK, the map is tied with Congress going for Carter. As long as Carter can hold onto PA and NY, Virginia decides the election.

That being said, we could just get this map:

1976 was a poisoned chalice, so Democrats might be better off.

[UnselfconsciousTeff]

In this case Ford keeps Rockefeller on the ticket to keep the liberal vote but this map may be not that accurate since 1976 was all about Watergate

Ford/Rockefeller (R)[/color]

Carter/Wallace (Dixiecrat Democratic)

[UWS]

In this case Ford keeps Rockefeller on the ticket to keep the liberal vote but this map may be not that accurate since 1976 was all about Watergate

Ford/Rockefeller (R)[/color]

Carter/Wallace (Dixiecrat Democratic)

If Ford does indeed keep Rockefeller, I would flip New York as Wallace’s being picked by Carter would terrify moderate and independent voters so much that it would drive them to Ford.

[Agonized-Statism]

President Gerald Ford (R-MI) / Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) ✓
Fmr. Governor Jimmy Carter (D-GA) / Governor George Wallace (D-AL)

A chance for moralizing Democrats to sweep the nation after Watergate is thrown away. That's not to say voters didn't have an appetite for right-wing politics at that point- see the Reagan Era- but Wallace had too strong and negative an image to dogwhistle without being obvious. Also, poor regional balance at a point when reviving the New Deal Coalition was crucial to any Democrat victory.

That said, more moderate outsider Carter still tops the ticket at the end of the day, and Wallace was surprisingly popular with the northern white working class in all his previous presidential/primary runs. It's closer than some might expect.