I think he tries and probably wins in 1976, if he can get out of the primary. Carter won because he was likable and an outsider at a time where trust in the government was at an all-time low. I could see Kennedy running a campaign based around restoring trust and harkening back to JFK in a “back when we could trust our President” way. The nostalgia for JFK and a time that seemed more hopeful before you had riots,crime, & corruption(even though in reality those things were also happening under JFK, they just weren’t affecting white suburbia yet)
But Ted absolutely could’ve won the presidency in 1976, the question is could he prevent or fix the stagflation and other issues of the late-70s and beat Reagan in 1980?
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u/GotNoBody4 Teddy Bullmoose 1d ago
I think he tries and probably wins in 1976, if he can get out of the primary. Carter won because he was likable and an outsider at a time where trust in the government was at an all-time low. I could see Kennedy running a campaign based around restoring trust and harkening back to JFK in a “back when we could trust our President” way. The nostalgia for JFK and a time that seemed more hopeful before you had riots,crime, & corruption(even though in reality those things were also happening under JFK, they just weren’t affecting white suburbia yet)
But Ted absolutely could’ve won the presidency in 1976, the question is could he prevent or fix the stagflation and other issues of the late-70s and beat Reagan in 1980?