Colin Powell finally gives into the draft effort and runs for President, easily defeating his less then impressive opponents in the primaries for the Republican nomination...How does the election go?
President William J. Clinton (D-AR) / Vice President Albert A. Gore, Jr. (D-TN)
vs.
General Colin L. Powell (R-NY) / Governor Peter B. Wilson (R-CA)
There was absolutely ZERO chance of Pete Wilson winding up on a Republican ticket in 1996. For one thing, Wilson was pro-choice, and while the GOP was less hostile to pro-choicers in the 1990s, had Powell won the nod, he would have needed a pro-lifer.
More importantly, though, Wilson was HORRIFICALLY UNPOPULAR in 1996. So unpopular that the Dole ticket avoided him like the plague. Polls showed Dole doing WORSE in CA had he picked Wilson. In fact Wilson was so unpopular that the Californian Bob Dole DID consider for the ticket was Dan Lungren, who was then the CA Attorney General.
