Would Bush 41 dumping Quayle for Baker help him win?

[Suburbia]

A Bush-Baker ticket could have squeaked a reelection victory.

[dw93]

It could, but it could also backfire as the religious right didn't trust Bush and Quayle really appealed to them.

[SevenEleven]

It could, but it could also backfire as the religious right didn't trust Bush and Quayle really appealed to them.

Quayle was if Mike Pence was allowed to speak.

[darklordoftech]

Who is this “Baker” that you refer to?

[brucejoel99]

Dumping Quayle was sounded out in a very tentative way by some parts of the Bush campaign, but it went nowhere - the polls they commissioned confirmed what they already knew: VPs have very little effect on elections. In addition, Quayle was a fave of the right, & dumping him would've played merry hell with them. Bush himself also seemed to have absolutely no interest in this, probably (at least partly) because doing so would've raised very significant questions about tapping Quayle in the first place.

So yeah, removing Quayle was very unlikely to ever happen, & if it had been done, then it would've probably been a net negative for Bush.

Who is this “Baker” that you refer to?

Secretary of State James Baker, I would presume.

[Suburbia]

Who is this “Baker” that you refer to?

Republican insider and Secretary of State James Baker, who resigned as Secy of State during the 1992 Bush campaign to help run and refocus Bush's failed 1992 campaign.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baker

[darklordoftech]

Who is this “Baker” that you refer to?

Republican insider and Secretary of State James Baker, who resigned as Secy of State during the 1992 Bush campaign to help run and refocus Bush's failed 1992 campaign.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baker

He seems to have been HW’s best friend and was with HW at the moment of HW’s death. I never thought of the possibility of him being a VP, and I have no idea what voters would think of him.

[Indy Texas]

No. You'd just be doubling down on the same thing - rich WASPy Houston Establishment GOPer with oil/banking ties.

Bush also aggressively tried to pivot toward the Religious Right for his 1992 campaign and Baker didn't have credibility with those people.

Adding Baker would have come across as desperately trying to coast on the Gulf War victory since he was heading State at the time.

[darklordoftech]

Bush also aggressively tried to pivot toward the Religious Right for his 1992 campaign

Was that because of Clinton’s perceived immorality, the welfare and crime issues having been “stolen” from him, the bad economy, or something else?

[Indy Texas]

Bush also aggressively tried to pivot toward the Religious Right for his 1992 campaign

Was that because of Clinton’s perceived immorality, the welfare and crime issues having been “stolen” from him, the bad economy, or something else?

The GOP had changed. Bush had to adopt an anti-abortion position as a condition of being picked for VP in 1980 but otherwise didn't really do a lot to become a culture warrior.

Violent crime and tacit race baiting did most of the heavy lifting in his 1988 campaign. By 1992, crime rates had started dropping and the Democrats had moved into a more tough-on-crime stance, effectively neutralizing the issue.

The economy wasn't doing well, and Bush had angered a lot of conservatives over his betrayal on tax increases.

What does that leave? Social conservatives. And Buchanan's candidacy helped force his hand.

[Badger]

No. Simply no. Pick the closest state that went for Clinton that entire election and maybe, just maybe it might have lived with Baker on the ticket instead of a lightweight like Quayle. But even that is rather unlikely