How would Joe Biden have performed against Bush in 1988?

[buritobr]

In June 1987, Joe Biden announced that he would like to be the democratic nominee in 1988. In September 1987, before the primaries start, Biden decided to withdrawal after the plagiarism scandal. If there was no plagiarism scandal, and Biden became the democratic nominee, how would have he performed against George HW Bush? Better than Dukakis? Worse than Dukakis? The same?

[Amtrak Joe]

I’d say better and would probably defeat Bush. Not because I’m a fan of Joe Biden, but because Bush was actually projected to lose until Dukakis badly fumbled the death penalty question in the debate. I think Biden edges out a narrow win against Bush.

[brucejoel99]

Biden's health would be a significant problem if he had been able to continue his presidential campaign. He suffered 2 brain aneurysms in 1988 & had 2 surgeries - 1 in February & 1 in May - to fix each of them. His campaign had ended several months before then (in September 1987), but even when he was campaigning, the symptoms of the aneurysms were apparent, with Biden experiencing frequent headaches & neck pain. The first aneurysm nearly killed him; a priest actually administered Last Rites to him on the hospital bed. Biden was away from the Senate for 7 months in 1988 while he was hospitalized & undergoing recovery from the aneurysms. His wife & sister believe that, if he had continued his campaign, then he might not have been able to receive the medical attention he needed in time. He would've literally campaigned himself to death.

This, in my opinion, is the biggest obstacle to a continued Biden '88 campaign. Even if he seeks treatment for his aneurysms before they get worse, he will be out of service for many months to recover. He won't be able to campaign effectively if he's confined to a hospital bed or going through rehabilitation.

[Agonized-Statism]

Vice President George Bush (R-TX) / Senator Dan Quayle (R-IN) ✓
Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) / Governor James Blanchard (D-MI)

[Lechasseur]

A lot better than Dukakis for sure.

Now if he wins or not is a different matter, but at the very least with Biden the election would have been competitive.