Could Gary Hart have beaten Reagan in '84?

[book_worm]

I doubt it. Mondale, a very fine man who would have been a wonderful president, carried only his homestate and DC. The Carter Administration was still too discredited at the time (but looks much better today). Hart may have done better, however. He would have not been tied to the Carter Administration and he was a "New era" type of Democrat who may have attracted more independents. But I doubt any Dem would have beaten Reagan in '84. But I could see a 55-45 race instead of a 59-41 blow-out.

Only thing is that had Hart been nominated in '84 would there have been a bimbo alert in the general election rather than before the primaries began in '88?

[BlooInBloo]

1. God save us from this neverending stream of meaningless counterfactuals.

[WCGreen]

2. He may have been able to...

Mondale was damaged goods, too identified with Carter and the malaise fabrication in the minds of the voter...

And he also came out and said he would raise taxes...

I think the Dem's could have won with anyone but Mondale...

[pstokely]

7. Could Mondale have beaten anyone?

[Fenris]

3. Not likely

If one puts aside the American voter's habit of not electing Senators, there is still the matter of Reagan's genial personality and extreme popularity. Any candidate in that year would have faced a spectacular uphill battle. Hart, as the turnaround in primary victories showed, had a lot of odd personal baggage (the weird controversy surrounding his name change, his relationship with his wife, his shifting birthday). Mondale had been able to torpedo Hart and his vague centrism by repeating a Wendy's slogan; I can't imagine the kind of defeat he would have suffered if he had been up against Reagan and his king-makers.

[On the Road]

4. No, But it Might Have Helped Him Win in 1988

I don't think any candidate would have stood in the way of Reagan's reelection.

Regarding 1988, however: Hunter Thompson, who knew Gary Hart, said that before the scandal he was the closest thing to a president-in-waiting the country has even had.

[Vidar]

5. Probably not, but he could have given Poppy a run for his money in '88.

[pstokely]

6. Could Christ himself?

[Kingshakabobo]

8. No. Not when you factor in the "Reagan Smash"

[Swede]

9. He was younger and in better shape.

He would have kicked the gipper's ass.

[fujiyama]

10. When a president wins reelection by 59%

he probably was going to win anyways. You're probably correct.

But it's too bad, Dukakis was nominated in '88...God, I don't know what Dems were thinking, considering there were several good candidates running that year. Gore, Hart, or Biden, very possibly could have beaten Bush that year. Of course, Biden was a dumbass and plagiarized a speech...It's too bad Hart's affair became such a big deal. From what I've heard of him in recent years, I've really liked what he's had to say, especially with regards to foreign intelligence and fighting terrorism.

[XOKCowboy]

11. Could Superman have killed Hitler?

OK it's an old SNL skit but that's what these threads remind me of.