1972: The Democratic ticket is Edmund Muskie/Walter Mondale

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

Would they do better than McGovern? What would their result mean for the future of the Democratic Party?

[Agonized-Statism]

President Richard Nixon (R-CA) / Vice President Spiro Agnew (R-MD) ✓
Senator Edmund Muskie (D-ME) / Senator Walter Mondale (D-MN)

Carter (if nominated) picks someone else like John Glenn, Frank Church, or Henry Jackson as his running mate in 1976. There's bigger implications for Muskie winning the nomination in the first place, though: did Nixon not interfere in the primaries? No Watergate?

[One Term Floridian]

President Richard Nixon (R-CA) / Vice President Spiro Agnew (R-MD) ✓
Senator Edmund Muskie (D-ME) / Senator Walter Mondale (D-MN)

Carter (if nominated) picks someone else like John Glenn, Frank Church, or Henry Jackson as his running mate in 1976. There's bigger implications for Muskie winning the nomination in the first place, though: did Nixon not interfere in the primaries? No Watergate?

I think this map might be too kind to the Dems. I doubt they'd do that well in the Pacific NW & Midwest. McGovern is clearly the floor for Dems in 1972 but I'm not sure the ceiling would be much higher with Nixon's popularity at an all-time high around the election.

[Agonized-Statism]

I think this map might be too kind to the Dems. I doubt they'd do that well in the Pacific NW & Midwest. McGovern is clearly the floor for Dems in 1972 but I'm not sure the ceiling would be much higher with Nixon's popularity at an all-time high around the election.

That's fair, I spent a lot of time deliberating over those states. Northwest maybe, but Mondale would be a boost in the Midwest because of his strong ties to labor. This just seems like a decent ticket for the time.

[One Term Floridian]

I think this map might be too kind to the Dems. I doubt they'd do that well in the Pacific NW & Midwest. McGovern is clearly the floor for Dems in 1972 but I'm not sure the ceiling would be much higher with Nixon's popularity at an all-time high around the election.

That's fair, I spent a lot of time deliberating over those states. Northwest maybe, but Mondale would be a boost in the Midwest because of his strong ties to labor. This just seems like a decent ticket for the time.

Probably the best possible ticket for the Dems in 72. While DOA, they  might do really well downballot in this scenario.

[PRESIDENT STANTON II]

But would have Mondale sacrificed his Senate seat?If I recall, Mondale was appointed to Humphrey's old Senate seat, after Humphrey was elected Vice President in 1964; Mondale had to run in 1966 and was up for reelection in 1972; perhaps Minnesota has the "LBJ law", which means that a law maker can seek two federal positions simultaneously.