but Nixon was perceived as a conservative at the time. Ditto for 1976 with Bob Dole.
You need some remedial straining, neither Dole nor Kemp were ever considered conservatives. "96" was an election that was given to Clinton the day Dole was told by the establishment that he was next.
I remember the day he announced he was running. My wife and I were in Reno, and CNN was on the motel room TV.
I told my wife then, that if Bob Dole gets the nomination Clinton will be re-elected. I was right.
I did support him, and I did fight to get him elected once he won the nomination, but I knew in my heart that he was a feeble choice.
I was in the audience when he fell off the stage here in Chico. When a Presidential candidate comes to Chico to campaign, you know he is TOAST!
Unlike "92", the exit polling showed that even if the hand grenade with a bad haircut (Perot) was not running, Clinton still would have won.
Also, while Kemp was Reagan's point man on fiscal matters, he was a socially liberal. I remember him attacking us in California for wanting to crack down on the illegal aliens collecting government handouts. Kemp bashed us as being too extreme.
The "96" Republican ticket had two Establishment Rinos that lost to a man a true conservative would have defeated in a landslide.
Oddly in 1976, the Republican presidential and vice-presidential choices had officially opposite stands on abortion. This was allowed at the time, as Dole in 1974 had campaigned against an abortion doctor in KS.
. . . neither Dole nor Kemp were ever considered conservatives. Compared to whom? Do you remember who it was that Gerald Ford dropped to put Bob Dole in the VP slot? None other than Nelson Rockerfeller who, you must admit, was way to the left of Bob Dole. Even today, the RINO wing claims Ford could have won the election if he had left Rocky on the ticket.
And while Jack Kemp was indeed soft on illegal immigration, it wasn't a big issue in 1996. The man was also pro-life, so it is really unfair to describe him as a social liberal. His close association with Reagan certainly won him the conservative label at the time.
Bob Dole didn't lose in 1996 because of a lack of conservative turn-out. He lost because the economy was humming along reasonably well and he offered no clear contrast to Bill Clinton. And was much less exciting.