Richard Nixon (R) vs Hubert Humphrey (D) vs Eugene McCarthy (I), 1972

[© tweed]

Humphrey enters the 1972 DNC in Miami trailing McGovern in delegates, but a successful rules challenge on the winner-take-all nature of the California primary (won by McGovern, 45-40% over HHH) throws the DNC into BrokeredVille.  through some dealmaking with Muskie and Wallace delegates, as well as the support of the party establishment, Hubert Humphrey wins on the third ballot and becomes the Democratic nominee for president for the second consecutive election.  Humphrey selects Oklahoma Senator Fred Harris for VP and the convention agrees.

needless to say, the McGovernites aren't happy at all and feel robbed of what was rightfully theirs.  a groundswell of support for an Independent/Third Party McGovern run is shot down when McGovern announces six days after the conclusion of the DNC that he will not form a campaign...  but he refuses to 'endorse' Humphrey.  The New Politics people start a blitz to find a new candidate and quickly turn to 1968 and 1972 Democratic presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, who achieves ballot status in all fifty states.  McGovern withholds officially endorsing either candidate but tacitly backs McCarthy.  McCarthy selects 44-year-old Democratic Congresswoman Patsy Mink of Hawaii as his running mate.

so...

Richard Nixon / Spiro Agnew (Republican) vs
Hubert Humphrey / Fred Harris (Democratic) vs
Eugene McCarthy / Patsy Mink (Independent)

[Erc]

Humphrey isn't as bad of a candidate as McGovern, and wouldn't implode in quite the same way...but, in a sense, he faces a worse position, with his own party explicitly divided after a horribly contentious process (yet again). 

A Nixon 50-state sweep (or an exact foreshadowing of 1984) isn't unreasonable.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Humphrey isn't as bad of a candidate as McGovern, and wouldn't implode in quite the same way...but, in a sense, he faces a worse position, with his own party explicitly divided after a horribly contentious process (yet again). 

A Nixon 50-state sweep (or an exact foreshadowing of 1984) isn't unreasonable.

No, I think Humphrey would be able to do better than McGovern, because most of McCarthy's base would have stayed with Humphrey, instead of jumping ship.

[© tweed]

Humphrey isn't as bad of a candidate as McGovern, and wouldn't implode in quite the same way...but, in a sense, he faces a worse position, with his own party explicitly divided after a horribly contentious process (yet again). 

A Nixon 50-state sweep (or an exact foreshadowing of 1984) isn't unreasonable.

No, I think Humphrey would be able to do better than McGovern, because most of McCarthy's base would have stayed with Humphrey, instead of jumping ship.

after getting robbed at the convention by the bosses?  no chance.  at all.

Nixon wins the PV something like 55-30-15 and all 50 states.

[Lincoln Republican]

Humphrey has a constituency and does far better than McGovern, however, still a landslide win for Nixon.  In 1972, Nixon was seen by the electorate as doing a good job as President, and they were not about to replace him with any Democrat.

McCarthy is a non starter in this race, really.  By 1972, the massive anti war sentiment was dying down, as the public listened to Nixon when he told them he would get the U.S. out of Vietnam.     

Nixon/Agnew                  426
Humphrey/Harris            112
McCarthy/Mink                    0

[Хahar 🤔]

McCarthy/Nixon

[CPT MikeyMike]

Nixon/Nixon

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Nixon/Nixon

It wouldn't be landslide like RL 1972 but it would be a landslide none-the-less. Nixon wins easily defeating both Senator Humphrey and Senator McCarthy. Here's a map on how I think this election would have turned out.

Richard M. Nixon/Sprio T. Agnew (R): 488 Electoral Votes
Hubert H. Humphrey/Fred R. Harris (D): 50 Elecoral Votes
Euegene McCarthy/Patsy Mink (I): 0 Electoral Votes

[Tetro Kornbluth]

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Wow. The US public must not have being paying attention for four years.

Anyway by 1972 it was too late for any serious radicalism to emerge within the political system, by that point and the reasons for this can be discussed it had little change of moving outside its specific areas such as college campuses and a couple of Urban locations (Especially with Black Panthers sympathy.)   

In 1968 on the other hand...

[War on Want]

Nixon 461 to 77.

Humphrey runs on the Economy and the Vietnam War, and looses badly, but he manages to keep some blue collar voters with the Democratic Party.