President Elect - 1988 Edition now available online

[MAINEiac4434]

So I tried to play as Mario Cuomo in 1988...it was pretty ugly.

[MAINEiac4434]

1960:

Hubert Humphrey/Lyndon Johnson 134 EVs, 47%
Richard Nixon/Gordon Allott 403 EVs, 52%

Nixon won with the calling of New York at 10:48 PM, but it was obvious long before that.

1964:

John Kennedy/Stu Symington 135 EVs, 46%
Richard Nixon/Gordon Allott 393 EVs, 51%
George Wallace/Somebody Somebody 10 EVs, 3%

It took until 11:23 PM this time, and Pennsylvania was what pushed Nixon over.


1968:

Ed Muskie/George Smathers 481 EVs, 48%
Nelson Rockefeller/George Romney 47 EVs, 40%
George Wallace/Somebody Somebody 10 EVs, 11%

So in this world, the Nixon presidency developed worse than Kennedy and Johnson in re: Vietnam? I can only imagine such a Muskie landslide in 1968 would be a sh**tshow in Vietnam.

[MAINEiac4434]

1968

Senator Robert Francis Kennedy of New York/Ralph Webster Yarborough of Texas: 480 EV, 35,891,396 PV, 53%
Vice President Richard Milhous Nixon of California/Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland: 48 EV, 28,584,880 PV, 42%
Governor George Wallace of Alabama/Governor Lester Maddox of Mississippi: 10 EV, 2,708,775 PV, 4%

Called at 9:57 PM with Florida, just minutes after Nixon won his first state (Nebraska). It was really close until about week five, and then Kennedy just pulled away. It wasn't even close by the end of the campaign, as we can see here.

1972

President Robert Francis Kennedy of New York/Vice President Ralph Webster Yarborough of Texas: 538 EV, 44,393,528 PV, 58%
Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York/Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine: 0 EV 32,555,400 42%

Called at 9:38, and the real question entering the night was whether Rockefeller would win a state. You can see the result.

1976

Governor Ronald Reagan of California/Representative John Ashbrook of Ohio: 335 EV, 42,082,436 PV, 51%
Vice President Ralph Webster Yarborough of Texas/Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota: 203 EV, 40,123,196 PV, 49%

Yarborough collapsed down the stretch. He had a large-ish lead that evaporated every week. It was still really close. The race was called at 11:39 with Reagan the "apparent winner" of Connecticut, despite having less than a 1,000 vote lead there. It was confirmed just before midnight.

1980

Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine/Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia: 319 EV, 44,403,864 PV, 52%
President Ronald Reagan of California/Vice President John Ashbrook of Ohio: 219 EV, 41,206,436 PV, 48%

At 10:09 PM, the networks called New Jersey for Senator Muskie, handing him the presidency. Muskie started with a huge lead that got closer as time went on. Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for Reagan, he had enough legs to finish the job, unlike Ralph Yarborough. In retrospect, it was closer than it should've been.

1984

President Edmund S. Muskie of Maine/Vice President Jimmy Carter of Georgia: 482 EV, 51,609,676 PV, 56%
Senator Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon/Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island 56 EV, 39,717,168 PV, 43%

Iowa was called at 9:27, and with it the election, before Senator Hatfield even won a state. It was an all-out domination. Clearly, the moderate strategy by the Republican Party didn't work.

[MAINEiac4434]

I let the computer sim 1968. No candidate received an EC majority. The House elected Humphrey.

Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey (MN)/Senator Edmund S. Muskie (ME): 255 EV, 28,212,016 PV, 45%
Vice President Richard M. Nixon (NY)/Governor Spiro Agnew (MD): 244 EV, 27,132,748 PV, 44%
Governor George Wallace (AL)/General Curtis LeMay (CA): 39 EV, 6,762,728 PV, 11%

[MAINEiac4434]

1960

John F. Kennedy had survived the Lee Harvey Oswald's attack. Now, presiding over a strong economy and foreign policy, with high approval ratings against a radical opponent, he was prepared to win again and carry the country forward.

He maintained a huge lead over Barry Goldwater during the campaign and was declared the winner as soon as the polls closed in the Central Time Zone. Goldwater narrowly lost SC, LA and his home state of AZ.

President John F. Kennedy (MA)/Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson (TX): 521 EV, 37,639,536 PV, 61%

Senator Barry Goldwater (AZ)/Representative William E. Miller (NY): 17 EV, 23,771,220 PV, 39%

1968

After 8 successful years as President, John F. Kennedy was ready to hand off the Democratic Party to his chosen successor, Stu Symington. LBJ ran a tough primary campaign, however, and the left of the party rallied around Hubert Humphrey. Eventually, Mo Udall was put forth as a compromise candidate, with Humphrey as the running mate. Thus, Udall became the first Mormon presidential candidate.

The Republicans, scorned by the right in 1964, rallied around Nelson Rockefeller. To appease the right-wing, Rockefeller picked his philosophical enemy but right-wing darling Ronald Reagan as his running mate.

George Wallace mounted a third party campaign.

Udall entered the campaign the favorite, though not by a large margin. Rockefeller was unable to get any headway in the race. With Arkansas, at 11:02 PM, Mo Udall became the President-elect. Udall's margin of victory in South Dakota was 40 votes.

The Republicans again failed to reach 100 electoral college votes, a dry streak that the party vowed to turn around in 1972.

Senator Morris "Mo" Udall (AZ)/Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (MN): 423 EV, 30,682,596 PV, 49%

Governor Nelson Rockefeller (NY)/Governor Ronald Reagan (CA): 98 EV, 26,666,216 PV, 43%

Governor George Wallace (AL)/General Curtis LeMay (CA): 17 EV, 4,709,705 PV, 7%

1972

With the war in Vietnam ended, President Udall faced high approval ratings. Unfortunately, inflation and unemployment were both rising. Richard Nixon came back from the political wilderness, and mounted a successful primary campaign against Reagan, Howard Baker and Jacob Javits, representing the liberal wing of the party. Nixon's running mate was Hawaii Senator Hiram Fong, becoming the first racial minority to be nominated for president or vice president.

Udall started the campaign with a 9-point lead, but the economy weakened over the course of the campaign. A handful of gaffes and communist advancement in Laos further pushed down the president's poll numbers. A terrible debate performance in the final week turned the race into a tossup with Udall only a slight favorite.

At 1:53 AM, Richard Nixon was declared the winner of California, and of the election. The Republican Party was back. Even the Mormon stronghold of Utah went GOP.

Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon (CA)/Senator Hiram Fong (HI): 276 EV, 37,451,480 PV, 51%

President Morris "Mo" Udall (AZ)/Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey (MN): 262 EV, 36,320,712 PV, 49%

1976

President Nixon, facing a renewed war in Southeast Asia and an economy still lagging, faced a tough reelection. Former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, the initial favorite of the Democratic Party, pulled out for health reasons. The race came down to Scoop Jackson of Washington, Jimmy Carter of Georgia and Edmund Muskie of Maine. Muskie won at the convention after former Presidents Kennedy and Udall gave endorsements. Carter was chosen as VP.

Muskie started the campaign with a narrow lead due to the economy and the War in Laos. He largely maintained that lead, but it was well within the margin of error and many states were considered tossups heading into election night. A good economic forecast and a debate win for Nixon further muddied the waters.

Again, California decided the election for Nixon. Muskie, however, won the popular vote. At least that's how it was called on election night. Virginia was subjected to a recount. The recount, initially stayed, was appealed to the Supreme Court. Muskie v. Nixon was decided 5-4 on party lines in favor of Senator Muskie. The recount went on, and it revealed Senator Muskie won the state by 1,800 votes. Nixon conceded the election in mid-December.

(NOTE: The game originally called Virginia for Nixon with 95% of the vote in. California was called soon afterward, and so was the election. After all the votes were counted, Muskie emerged with a slight lead in Virginia, and thus, the election.)

Senator Edmund S. Muskie (ME)/Governor James "Jimmy" Carter (GA): 277 EV, 41,780,392 PV, 50%

President Richard M. Nixon (CA)/Vice President Hiram Fong (HI): 261 EV, 40,785,460 PV, 49%

1980:

President Muskie ended the War in Laos, only to have the Iran Hostage Crisis follow. Muskie, however, negotiated the release of the hostages in exchange for returning the Shah. Conservatives in both parties were outraged, but Muskie felt it was the only peaceable solution to the crisis. The Shah "mysteriously" died on the flight back to Iran.

The Republican nomination was a three-way battle between Reagan, looking to finally get his chance to win the nomination, Fong, the favorite of the liberal wing, and George Bush, favorite of the more moderate wing. Reagan very narrowly won the nomination, and chose George Bush as his running mate.

John Anderson entered as a centrist candidate.

Muskie started out with a solid lead, and it kept throughout the campaign. Muskie was declared the winner at 10:40 PM with Kentucky. No recount was needed. He surprisingly flipped Kansas and Oklahoma, while seeing the GOP flip back South Dakota, Montana, North Carolina and, funnily enough, Virginia.

President Edmund S. Muskie (ME)/Vice President James "Jimmy" Carter (GA): 358 EV, 43,965,920 PV, 51%

Former Governor Ronald Reagan (CA)/Former CIA Director George Bush (TX): 180 EV, 40,291,688 PV, 47%

Representative John Anderson (IL)/Former Governor Patrick Lucey (WI): 0 EV, 2,051,679 PV, 2%

1984:

After two successful terms of Ed Muskie, the Democratic Party's presidential primaries were filled with potential presidents, each looking to advantage of the good economy and world stability. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, however, stood head and shoulders above the rest. Kennedy chose John Glenn as his running mate.

George Bush won the nomination for the Republicans. To appease the right, he chose Jesse Helms as his running mate.

Kennedy had a large lead for the entirety campaign, but his final margin overshot his polling averages.

Senator Robert F. Kennedy (NY)/Senator John Glenn (OH): 485 EV, 53,495,720 PV, 56%

Former CIA Director George Bush (TX)/Senator Jesse Helms (NC): 53 EV, 41,002,788 PV, 44%

[MAINEiac4434]

Are recounts possible in this game? It gave Illinois to Kennedy in one of my simulations, but when I pressed "f" to skip through the rest since it was basically over, it said that Nixon had won it (Illinois).

Yes, sort of. If it's super close the game calls a "winner" when 95% of precincts report. But States can still flip in the 5% of remaining precincts.

[MAINEiac4434]

Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY)/Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN) - 403 EV, 34,057,220, 50%
Fmr. Vice President Richard M. Nixon (R-NY)/Governor Spiro Agnew (R-MD) - 125 EV, 29,390,346, 43%
Fmr. Governor George Wallace (AI-AL)/General Curtis LeMay (AI-CA) - 10 EV, 4,085,267, 6%