1992 Democratic primary with Al Gore

[😥]

If Al Gore run in 1992 again, would he win Democratic primaries? Would he win general election? Would he be stronger or weaker candidate than Bill Clinton was?

[brucejoel99]

Gore would be the frontrunner for the nomination. He came in 3rd in 1988, &, on paper, he'd be the strongest candidate with the possible exception of Brown, who the national party establishment & media just didn't want; Gore & Brown would also be the only candidates to have run a national primary campaign before. Not to mention, there was a lot of dissatisfaction with the likely field in 1991 & a continual hope that a bigger name like Cuomo, Gore, or Bradley would jump in. Clinton would still run, as he was singularly determined to become President, but it's very hard to see him pulling through in NH with the respectable second that he ended up with considering that, this time, as soon as his baggage (the Flowers affair & the draft dodge story) emerges, there's a ready-made alternative for his vote to migrate to. If Gore makes it past NH, then I can only see him going into the Southern primaries as one of the two candidates still effectively standing, &, in all likelihood, the the definite frontrunner.

As for the general election, I think he wins more easily than Clinton did because he'd not only get the votes that Clinton did, but he'd probably siphon votes off from Perot & probably some from Bush as well. Remember, Clinton won in 1992 with only 43% of the popular vote, so Gore could probably do a good bit better, especially when you consider that Gore was one of the few Democrats to vote "Yes" on the resolution authorizing Bush to use military force to expel Iraq from Kuwait, which would help him a great deal in the general.

[morgankingsley]

In all honesty I forget he did not run