1972 1984 presidential elections * George McGovern and Walter Mondale have switched places

[UWS]

What if Walter Mondale was the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee and George McGovern was the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee as they have both lost to incumbent Republican Presidents who won re-election in landslides with 49 states and around 60 percent of vote.

[TheTide]

The Campaign Trail has a mod in which Mondale rather than McGovern is the 1972 Democratic nominee. It is a competitive race and fairly winnable for Mondale. Whilst he may not have won, Mondale was better suited (as a New Deal Democrat and Humphrey protege) to 1972 than he was to 1984.

McGovern may have done slightly better in 1984 as his New Left politics were better suited to the 1980s than to the 1970s.

[dw93]

I agree Mondale is better suited for 1972 than he was for 1984. He'd still lose to Nixon, but Mondale would lose by margins similar to Romney's loss in 2012 or McCain's in 2008 instead of a 49 state landslide loss. As for McGovern in 84, he does about as bad as he did in 1972 or Mondale did in 1984. The Democratic party while past the New Deal wasn't yet fully on board with New Leftism either. If they were, Gary Hart likely would've beaten Mondale for the nomination.

[Agonized-Statism]

1972

President Richard Nixon (R-CA) / Vice President Spiro Agnew (R-MD)
Senator Walter Mondale (D-MN) / Fmr. Ambassador Sargent Shriver (D-MD)

Swing and a miss for a standard New Dealer right after the collapse of the New Deal Coalition. Mondale picks Shriver to shore up foreign policy.

1984

President Ronald Reagan (R-CA) / Vice President George Bush (R-TX) ✓
Fmr. Senator George McGovern (D-SD) / Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro (D-NY)

Actually, McGovern does better. Farm issues were his thing, and with the Farm Credit System and the USDA only forced to admit that the farm debt problem existed in 1985, there was definitely a lane for a prairie populist. He was a fighter who could rally liberals more effectively, drawing out the Moral Majority and other new religious right forces and cutting into Reagan's sunny optimism. He also probably ends up with Ferraro as running mate, funny enough- pretty sure his Americans for Common Sense PAC supported her in 1982. Still loses big though.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

McGovern '84 likely doesn't win anything but D.C. If he still lost reelection in 1980, I don't see the Democrats nominating him even for a sacrificial lamb campaign.

[Mr. Smith]

Mondale v. Nixon:  See IRL 1988 MAP, but replace Iowa with Illinois.

McGovern v Reagan: See IRL 1984 MAP, without Minnesota...but maybe he gets skinny margins in The Midwest that look as close as all those loses Carter took in The South 1980.