Nixon vs. McGovern vs. Wallace vs. Humphrey vs. Ashbrook 1972

[Lahbas]

Wallace's assassination attempt fails, but the injuries are minor enough to allow him to still campaign, not to mention he is no longer paralyzed. Humphrey refuses to endorse McGovern based on his control over the Convention, and decides to run as an independent Democrat. John Ashbrook runs as a Anti-Nixon candidate, along with Peace Republican Pete McCloskey as his running mate. What would election day look like?

Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew (Republican)
George McGovern/Thomas Eagleton (Democratic)
George Wallace/Lester Maddox (American Independent)
Hubert Humphrey/Kevin White (Independent Democrat)
John Ashbrook/Pete McCloskey (Conservative Republican)

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Interesting scenario, but I don't see how McCloskey would even consider running with someone like Ashbrook

[Mechaman]

Interesting scenario, but I don't see how McCloskey would even consider running with someone like Ashbrook

Yeah, McCloskey, while an antiwar candidate, definitely wasn't a "Conservative Republican". In fact (going on wikipedia) he seemed to be quite the "Liberal Republican", hell he cochaired the first Earth Day in 1970! Ashbrook was considered "ultra conservative" back in the day......

[Mechaman]

For the sake of making things interesting, I'll divide by zero:


BTW, I have no idea who wins,

John Ashbrook/Pete McCloskey (Independent Republican)
Hubert Humphrey/Kevin White (Independent Democrat)
George Wallace/Lester Maddox (American Independent)
George McGovern/Thomas Eagleton (Democratic)
Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew (Republican)

[Lahbas]

Assume then that Ashbrook runs on his own ticket, with his electors given the freedom to chose a Vice President for him.

[Lahbas]

McGovern and Humphrey split the Democratic vote, resulting in McGovern only succeeding in carrying the District of Columbia, and Humphrey narrowly carrying his home state of Minnesota. He even lost his best primary state of West Virginia. Wallace, due to vote splitting in both parties, including Ashbrook's insurgent campaign against Nixon, is able to capture all of the old Confederacy, except for Texas, which narrowly remains with Nixon. Nixon concentrates on appeasing the South more intensely, with Wallace as its representative.

Nixon 41%/421 Elecotral
Wallace 17%/101 Electoral
Humphrey 24%/10 Electoral
McGovern 13%/3 Electoral
Ashbrook 4%/0 Electoral