Petraeus Without The Affair

[Potus]

For the longest time, I was fascinated with the idea of what called, "The 21st Century Eisenhower" campaign. David Petraeus coming home and running for President as a national hero with a ton of crossover support and generally moderate to center-right positions.


What do you think a Petraeus campaign, without the affair, would have been in 2016? Primary and general maps. How could you see the campaign going?

[NewYorkExpress]

Working for Obama would have killed with Republicans (and some Liberals), and in any case if he he's running in 2016 with or without the affair, it would have been as an independent.

[badgate]

2004, if Bush were so unpopular he didn't run for reelection, yes.

2008, he probably would have lost to Obama.

2012, would have been really interesting if he came home and challenged Obama.

[Maxwell]

Petraeus was not a hero. It's amazing, that is such a deception of the way things happened to call him a hero.

[Meursault]

"Anyone who dons an American military uniform is a hero," don't'ch'ya know.

[cbannon5]

If Petraeus ran as a Republican then he would, in all likelihood win the nomination.  He would probably lose in Iowa to a social conservative but then proceed to win the nomination along the lines that either John McCain or Mitt Romney did (winning NH and then winning the big states). Petraeus would then go into the election with an edge over the Democratic candidate and, if he ran to the middle, would probably win in a significant fashion (my estimate would be that he would win with 299 electoral votes).