If George McGovern was the nominee in 1976 instead of 1972

[brucejoel99]

If McGovern doesn't run in 1972, then some other farther-left Democrat will. Anti-war sentiment was very strong among non-Southern Democrats in 1972, & delegate selection rules had been drastically reformed to reduce the dominance of traditional party insiders. This process had gone so far that the convention expelled the entire Daley-led Illinois delegation because there weren't enough black & female delegates, & instead seated a delegation of liberal reformers that was actually far less representative of Illinois Democrats than even Daley's group.

The McGovernite leftists believed that their views would carry the day in November, that America was truly ripe for a truly "progressive" political program; but, like the Goldwaterites in 1964, they'd overreached & lost big time. By 1976, the Democrats were less interested in ideological purity than winning. Carter was a near-ideal candidate: somebody who could win back the once-Solid South & appeal to evangelical Christian voters while retaining the votes of liberals & blacks.

So yeah, McGovern would fail.