Stolengood
Banned
Quick nit to pick: The only reason Claudine Schneider lost IOTL is because she was running against the perennial holder of that seat, who had been drafted back in by the state party after saying he was going to retire... I speak, of course, of Claiborne Pell.
The only reason Pell was drafted is because Schneider was seen as a very viable candidate; due to Rhode Island being almost entirely a one-party state, a lot of people who kept getting deferred from running as Democrats (in favor of "established names") finally had enough and became Republicans in order to run. Claudine Schneider was one of them; she was very liberal, especially on environmental and women's issues. I know this because I had a history professor last semester who, before he started teaching and being a historian, was a bus driver and labor organizer, very pro-labor and pro-Democratic... and he canvased for Claudine Schneider that year, because he thought she was a great candidate. (Keep in mind that the Republican Party is pretty much rump in RI outside of gubernatorial elections, and that the state party is next to nothing like the national party.)
With Schneider being seen as unbeatable IOTL (except for, of course, the small matter of Claiborne Pell), I'm pretty sure she'd have beaten Jack Reed ITTL. Might want to change that result, then.
The only reason Pell was drafted is because Schneider was seen as a very viable candidate; due to Rhode Island being almost entirely a one-party state, a lot of people who kept getting deferred from running as Democrats (in favor of "established names") finally had enough and became Republicans in order to run. Claudine Schneider was one of them; she was very liberal, especially on environmental and women's issues. I know this because I had a history professor last semester who, before he started teaching and being a historian, was a bus driver and labor organizer, very pro-labor and pro-Democratic... and he canvased for Claudine Schneider that year, because he thought she was a great candidate. (Keep in mind that the Republican Party is pretty much rump in RI outside of gubernatorial elections, and that the state party is next to nothing like the national party.)
With Schneider being seen as unbeatable IOTL (except for, of course, the small matter of Claiborne Pell), I'm pretty sure she'd have beaten Jack Reed ITTL. Might want to change that result, then.