1988 if this fictional character was the Republican nominee

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

Harry Parker was born in Branson, Missouri on December 4th, 1921 at 00:05, to a couple of poor farmers. The third of seven children, Parker attended elementary schools in Branson, and moved to the larger nearby town of Springfield at age 12, as his parents could not afford middle schools.

Standing at 1.90, Parker was captain of the basketball team, and helped his school's team win by 133-46 in one occasion. When Parker left high school, he became engaged to Denise Cooper, immediately beginning to work in Springfield as a bus driver.

During World War II, Parker was drafted by the United States Army, fighting in the Italian Front and being injured twice. Parker was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1944, and returned to Springfield after the war ended, subsequently marrying Cooper and having two children.

In the late 1940s, Parker returned to driving buses, but seeing so much violence and injustice in Italy motivated him to enter politics.

In 1952, Parker, already a Republican was elected an alderman in the city of Springfield, with the highest voting of any candidate. He was known as a champion of the middle class, with all the legislation he proposed being meant to champion the average inhabitant of Springfield. In 1958, Parker became the Mayor of Springfield, building three new streets, fighting corruption, constructing four trade schools, and building a public airstrip allowing small airplanes to land in Springfield. In spite of his inexperience, Parker was nominated for Governor by 6 votes by the Missouri Republican Party.

As Governor of Missouri, Parker built 65 trade schools, created MissouriCare (a program providing optional health insurance to retirees), constructed 25 kilometers of highways across rural Missouri, waived the vehicle registration tax, created a negative tax for small businesses, and vetoed bills to create a state lottery.

After winning re-election, Parker focused on the federal government, being elected a Senator by promising to implement legislation based on the interests of Missourians.

In the Senate, Parker became known as a moderate Republican, successfully pushing for Medicaid expansion (signed into law by Richard Nixon on May 5th, 1973) and becoming a champion of middle-class tax cuts, a Department of Education to work with state governments on education policy, and a gradual withdrawal from Indochina, opposing Operation Menu as a "backstabbing" of Cambodia. During the oil shock, Parker advocated for drilling in Alaska and eliminating price controls on oil, while calling Roe vs Wade the second iteration of Dred Scott v. Sanford.

His opposition to Nixon made Parker mostly immune to the post-Watergate blue wave. Parker refused to make an endorsement in the 1976 Republican primaries, but campaigned for Gerald Ford during the general election. During the late 1970s, Parker's main achievement was when Jimmy Carter signed his bill reforming two New Deal-era programs.

On March 8th, 1979, US Senator for Missouri Harry Parker formally launched his presidential campaign with a rally in Des Moines. In the rally, Parker gave a speech highlighting his record as Governor of Missouri and US Senator, promising drilling in Alaska, a negative credit for small businesses, medical malpractice reform, a comprehensive energy strategy, a focus on trade schools, and a strong military to protect America and its allies from the Soviet Union. Parker ended the speech by attacking "certain candidates" who had a "well-intentioned" but "unrealistic" approach to economics: a thinly-veiled jab at Ronald Reagan.

Early in the fall of 1979, Parker focused a bit on legislation, writing two bills (a negative tax for small businesses and eliminating price controls on oil), which failed to pass. Nevertheless, the Senator received national attention, and his energy policies gave him a boost with the oil crisis.

Parker started well by narrowly winning the Iowa Caucus against Reagan, George Bush finishing a not-so-distant third. The Senator then won Alaska due to his support for drilling and Puerto Rico with Reagan boycotting the primary. His campaign started to falter when Reagan won New Hampshire, and in turn, Bush carried Vermont and Massachusetts after defeating the three other candidates in a debate. Senator Parker came close to Reagan in Alabama given his appeal to rural voters, but handily lost Florida and Georgia. After a second-place finish in Neighboring Illinois, Parker carried Connecticut after moderate Republicans began to abandon Bush, but lost New York by a considerable margin. Then, Parker won neighboring Kansas, but narrowly lost Wisconsin in spite of campaigning hard there. The Parker campaign began to falter after Reagan easily won Louisiana and Pennsylvania, which coupled with Reagan's easy victories in Arizona and Texas, made the Senator begin to lose hope. Parker's last victory contest was in Washington DC, and he dropped out after the May 27 contests (Idaho, Kentucky and Nevada) subsequently being selected as Reagan's running mate.

Parker became the second vice President from Missouri, after his namesake.

With the exception of banking, farming and to a certain degree healthcare policies, Harry Parker's economic views shifted right in the 1980s. By 1987, he privately advocated for a watered down form of supply side economics.

Parker worked with his boss Ronald Reagan, but disagreed with the President's handling of the farm crisis, calling for export deals with the Soviet Union and France, while not ruling out a expansion of agricultural credits. In 1986, Reagan reluctantly named Parker chief of a taskforce on the matter, where the Vice President worked with the Secretary of Commerce to import 25,000 tons of wheat from the Soviet Union and 10,000 from France, while expanding credit for new homesteads. However, Reagan refused to increase farm subsidies.

In 1997, Parker admitted to personal involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal, saying he regretted propping up dictators in Panama and Iran.

On the War on Drugs, Parker was chief of the Drug Taskforce, where he targeted smugglers, growers and dealers, mostly ignoring drug use/possession. Saturday Night Live parodied his use of special crews to destroy cannabis through burning in 1986.

Parker admitted to frequently trying to convince the President to deal with the AIDS pandemic on a scientifically informed manner, but it "entered one of Reagan's ears and left through another".

During the 1984 election, Harry Parker campaigned for Ronald Reagan in the Midwest, highlighting how the president's policies helped American workers, and did not hurt unions. According to Parker, millions of Americans had rose to the middle class during the Reagan Administration, while Democrats only stood for the poor. As to the farm crisis, Parker highlighted his work on the matter through the chairmanship of a committee given to him by Reagan.


Vice President Parker ran on continuing Ronald Reagan's policies, while promising "low unemployment and inflation, high pay, reduced trade and foreign deficits, and equal opportunities for every American" to appeal to swing voters. Parker tried to distinguish himself from Ronald Reagan, by promising lower interest rates and trade deals with European countries and the Soviet Union to solve the farm crisis, medical malpractice reform and adding a prescription drug benefit for Medicare, the creation of a negative tax for small businesses and expanding offshore drilling and making investments into hybrid vehicles, while believing a constitutional amendment to ban abortion outside of rape and life-threats, gun rights, low taxes, and law and order. While he did not go crazy with attacks, Parker attacked Dukakis for expanding the prison furlough program, polluting the Boston Harbor, and as a coastal elitist and "Massachusetts liberal" out of touch with mainstream Americans. Parker refused campaign manager Lee Atwater's suggestion to "go crazy" with attacks. Parker chose former Governor of Tennessee Lamar Alexander as his running mate with the goal of sating grassroots conservatives.

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

I understand why this thread sits idle.

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

The 1972 election was also different, as Thomas Eagleton wasn't a senator.