not necessarily. he just would not have moved in that direction policy wise given the politics. clinton was the way he was because of the political climate of the time which was heavily influenced by reagan.

Could be… But i think the most likely scenario. Would be a a Republican win in 84, not sure who… Could be Papa Bush followed by a Gary Hart Presidency in 88. In which case Clinton wouldn’t even be considered until 96 at the earliest, and by that point his historical moment was over

Duuuddde you wouldn’t have Clinton as president if Carter had one a second term. Clinton was not a left wing president. he was Third Way.

Remember he approved the Effective Death Penalty Act,

Remember he continued govt favoring of single mothers. which has made marriage unobtainable for the poor.

Remember he is the single person most responsible after Nixon for the current state of mass incarceration .

Why did Third Way bullshit take over the party. Because Clinton and his collaborators, made the case that there was no alternative after Carter and Mondale lost so badly to Regan.

But if Carter had won… That’s like a Turtledove level point of divergence. the late 20th Century would be so different because of that i don’t even want to speculate.

But with the old left still in charge of the Dems… It could be better. Trump would’ve been prosecuted for discriminating against his African American Tenants at least… in the 70s… And we’d still have effective antitrust.

On the other hand Carter kneecaped the cia. So we might have gotten nuked. You really can’t say