What happens if Bob Dole doesn't run in 1996? Dole's speechwriter Richard Norton Smith confided that Bob Dole told him after the fact that he never should have run in 1996, that 1988 was his best shot. Let's say Bob Dole sees the writing on the wall and just dedicates himself to being Senate Majority Leader. How does 1996 turnout.
Bob Dole might have been the runner up in 1988 but Pat Buchanan was the runner up in 1992, and a surprising one at that. He came in very close in Iowa to Dole and beat him in New Hampshire. Is there enough right-wing support within the Republican party in 1996 for Pat Buchanan to take the nomination? Is there any other mainstreamers that could've done better both running (Lamar Alexander, Phil Gramm) or not running (Pete Wilson, Arlen Specter, Newt Gingrich) or does someone like Steve Forbes coalesce more support? Or maybe Colin Powell is desperately drafted by his party to save them from Buchanan?
Let's say that the nomination is Pat Buchanan. What does that do to Ross Perot considering both of them are protectionist/anti-NAFTA? Is there a world where a Buchanan candidacy forces Perot out? Would a Buchanan vs. Clinton two person candidacy result in a Clinton landslide or would it be closer than we might think?
Washington Journal: Richard Norton Smith Discusses Bob Dole's Legacy
Author and presidential historian Richard Norton Smith, the founding director of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, talked about Bob Dole's legacy.
www.c-span.org
Bob Dole might have been the runner up in 1988 but Pat Buchanan was the runner up in 1992, and a surprising one at that. He came in very close in Iowa to Dole and beat him in New Hampshire. Is there enough right-wing support within the Republican party in 1996 for Pat Buchanan to take the nomination? Is there any other mainstreamers that could've done better both running (Lamar Alexander, Phil Gramm) or not running (Pete Wilson, Arlen Specter, Newt Gingrich) or does someone like Steve Forbes coalesce more support? Or maybe Colin Powell is desperately drafted by his party to save them from Buchanan?
Let's say that the nomination is Pat Buchanan. What does that do to Ross Perot considering both of them are protectionist/anti-NAFTA? Is there a world where a Buchanan candidacy forces Perot out? Would a Buchanan vs. Clinton two person candidacy result in a Clinton landslide or would it be closer than we might think?